TheNewsGuru

Tag: Nigerians

  • South Africa deports 90 Nigerians for breaking immigration rules

    South Africa deports 90 Nigerians for breaking immigration rules

    The South African government on Friday deported 90 Nigerians for alleged immigration-related offences.

    Joseph Alabi, the spokesman for the Lagos Airport Police Command confirmed the development to newsmen in Lagos.

    Mr. Alabi said the deportees, who are all men, landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at about 3.30 p.m. on Friday.

    He said they were brought back to Nigeria aboard a South African Airways aircraft with registration number BBB712 from Johannesburg.

    “This afternoon, about 3.30pm, 90 Nigerians were deported from South Africa for committing immigration-related offences.

    “Some of them were alleged to have been living in the country without valid documents.

    “They were received by the appropriate agencies including the police and profiled before being allowed to depart to their respective destinations,” Mr. Alabi said.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that South Africa had also on February 28 deported 97 Nigerians for committing various offences. They deportees were made up of 95 males and two females.

    NAN

     

  • ‘Over 6,000 Nigerians languish in Chinese prisons’

    ‘Over 6,000 Nigerians languish in Chinese prisons’

    Black African Re-orientation and Development Organisation (BARADO), an NGO, has called on Nigerian Government to secure the release of over 6,000 Nigerians suffering in different Chinese prisons.

    The Executive Director of the Organisation, Mr Nkem Anyata-Lafia made the call on Wednesday in Abuja during a peaceful protest to raise awareness on the plight of African prisoners, particularly Nigerians in Chinese prisons.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protesters were seen carrying placards with different inscriptions a march along Unity Fountain and Shehu Shagari Way, Abuja.

    Some of the inscriptions read; “Bring back Nigerian citizens in Chinese prisons; Nigerian prisoners in China donate blood under duress every three months; Nigerians are humiliated and dehumanised in Chinese prisons” among others.

    He said that the Nigerian government should take urgent steps and measures to“ bring home our Nigerian brothers and sisters serving various jail terms in China to complete their jail terms in Nigeria.’’

    Anyata-Lafia said that similar thing had been done in China with about 47 countries transferring their citizens to serve their respective jail terms in their various countries.

    He said that it was in the interest of the organisation to bring to the notice of Nigerian government the gruesome and disheartening condition of Africans particularly Nigerians in prisons in China.

    “The facts within our knowledge show that out of the over 6000 Nigerians in Chinese prisons, over 55 per cent are unlawfully and illegally being incarcerated.

    “Over 90 per cent of this number has been in jail for over 10 years, subjected daily to unnatural hard labour and torture.

    “They are being made to work at N7 per month for an economy that desperately seeks to be number one in the world,’’ he said.

    According to him, some of these prisoners have no knowledge of the crime they have committed or when they will finish their prison terms, and some have been detained for more than 10 years.

    The executive director alleged that this had been the regular practice of the country’s authorities which ensures that prisons were continually stacked full so as to provide the needed cheap labour for its economy.

    Anyata-Lafia said records at the organisation’s disposal showed that many Nigerians in Chinese prisons were being held based on false allegations.

    “In some cases, death sentence are passed carelessly and secret executions carried out in questionable conditions.

    “There are even alleged cases of organ harvesting to treat their rich industrialists with failing health.

    “They are daily subjected to slavery and hard labour with nothing other than white rice which is offered to them once.

    “This is even to say nothing about those who are made to die slowly by being forced to handle harmful industrial chemicals without any form of protection around their bodies against all known industrial safety standard,’’ he said.

    However, one of the recently released prisoners, Mr Emmanuel Ugochukwu blamed the influx of Nigerians into China on lack of job opportunities in Nigeria.

    According to Ugochukwu, a lot of Nigerian graduates are there because they are looking for greener pasture.

    He said that Nigerians in Chinese prisons have to work 24 hours in order to make both ends meet, adding that it was a terrible experience which many of them had passed through for over 15 years in China prison.

    “ We were made to go through hard labour without pay; you have to work tirelessly in order to make little money to buy toiletries,” he said.

    He, however, called on Nigerian government to take proactive measure to ensure the release of Nigerians in Chinese prisons as well as provide jobs for the youth.

    He noted that this would reduce the number of Nigerian youths seeking greener pastures in foreign lands.

  • 1,268 Nigerians voluntarily returned from Libya in 5 months — NEMA

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said 1,268 Nigerians had voluntarily returned from Libya from December 15, 2016 to May 16, 2017.

    Alhaji Mustapha Maihaja, the Director General, NEMA, made the disclosure while receiving a fresh batch of 258 Nigerians who arrived on Tuesday in Lagos.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the returnees arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, aboard a chartered Libya Airlines Airbus A330-200 with registration number 5A-LAU at about 8:30pm.

    They were received at the Hajj Camp area of the airport by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) , the National Agency for the Protection of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police.

    Also on ground to receive them were officials of NEMA, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

    Maihaja, who was represented by Dr Onimode Bandele, the Deputy Director, Search and Rescue, said the fresh returnees came along with 20 children and infants.

    He said the returnees were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Nigerian Embassy in Libya.

    According to him, another batch of Nigerians is expected back on May 25, and the exercise will continue as long as those stranded in Libya are willing to return home.

    “Since December 2016, we have been able to bring back 1,268 Nigerians and the exercise will continue in collaboration with the IOM

    “The Federal Government is collaborating with the various state governments to rehabilitate and reintegrate the returnees, ” he said.

    Also speaking, Ms Julia Burpee, Public Information Officer, IOM, said the organisation had facilitated the return of over 7,000 Nigerians from various countries in the past 16 years.

    She said the organisation would assist the returnees to get back on their feet and would provide assistance to others willing to leave the North African country.

     

     

    NAN

     

  • FG offers free surgeries to 4,349 indigent Nigerians

    FG offers free surgeries to 4,349 indigent Nigerians

    The Federal Government says it provided free surgeries to 4,349 patients and screened 17, 793 indigent Nigerians in 2016.

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, disclosed this in a statement issued by Mrs Boade Akinola, Director Media and Public Relations of the ministry, on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The statement said the ministry had set a target to conduct 10,150 free surgeries and screenings to help alleviate the sufferings of some indigent Nigerians who cannot afford to pay.

    According to the statement, the ministry also carried out over 200,000 nutritional interventions to Nigerians suffering from malnutrition in the North East.

    It said the nutritional intervention has since been scaled up to become a full fledge project of the “Health Sector Nutrition and Emergency Response’’.

    It explained that the project delivered a set of comprehensive health interventions and emergency services in the troubled region.

    It said that the programme was a promise kept by the present administration, which has “a pro-poor universal health coverage agenda’’.

    The statemnt said the programme tagged “Better Health for All”, would be sustained and scaled up in 2017.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the ministry inaugurated the Rapid Result Initiative (RRI) Programme in July 2016, to carry out surgeries and screening of indigent Nigerians.

    The programme was borne out of the plan to respond to the critical needs of the people and deliver on the mandate of promoting health with focus on Access, Affordability and Demand.

     

     

     

    NAN

  • Nigerians are honourable, hard working people – FG

    The Federal Government on Monday in New York said Nigerians are honourable and hard working people who are making remarkable contributions all over the world.

    This was revealed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye.

    Enikanolaiye lauded the giant strides Nigerians have made in all walks of life, commending their ingenuity, loyalty, patriotism and positive spirit wherever they were found.

    The permanent secretary said: “The vast majority of Nigerians abroad are doing very well, bringing honour and glory to our country.

    “However, we have few bad eggs and unfortunately, that’s what gets reported in many instances; so it is a case of ‘one bad apple spoils the barrel.

    “So Nigeria’s image has also suffered from some of the activities of few Nigerians who get involved in all sorts of criminalities abroad but they are very few.

    “Nevertheless, the silent majority of Nigerians are doing very well, doing the country proudly and we are proud of them.

    “So we would continue to work on that strength of Nigeria and Nigerians because it is about perception.

    “This is to make sure that what is being reported out there is positive for our country.”

    He said the Federal Government would continue to work so it could project what was great and positive about Nigeria and ultimately change negative perceptions about our country.

    Enikanolaiye said Nigeria had always been a reliable and dependable ally on the global stage, particularly at the UN since its independence.

    According to him, the country is fully back on the global stage, particularly with the assumption of duty of its ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande.

    The permanent secretary described the Nigeria’s UN envoy, and other envoys recently posted to other multilateral organizations as “very distinguished personalities”.

    “Even though the permanent mission has been doing its best in keeping the Nigeria’s flag flying, we believe that Bande’s coming at this time would energize our efforts.

    “This is for us to re-engage more effectively with the UN in a manner that Nigeria’s voice would be better heard in a manner that would show Nigeria’s role as a responsible and active player.”

    Enikanolaiye had earlier addressed the UN Security Council’s open debate on “Women and peace and security: Sexual violence in conflict” where he assured the international community of Federal Government’s commitment to bring back the girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists.

    He had also met with the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, who he described as “a worthy ambassador of Nigeria” and expressed optimism that she would make Nigeria and Africa proud.

     

     

     

    NAN

     

  • Photos: Two Nigerians nearly beaten to death in South Africa

    Photos: Two Nigerians nearly beaten to death in South Africa

    Photos of two Nigerians who were reportedly mauled by South Africans have surfaced online.

    The Nigerians were brutalised at Kuruman, Northern Cape, Martin Ogbaje who shared the photos noted.

    He said “May God save us in this country South Africa, two Nigeria guys almost murdered yesterday in Kuruman Northern Cape. If not because of Police help, their lives could have been a story by now.”

    The Facebook user who posted the photos did not indicate why the Nigerians were beaten, but comments from other users indicated that the action may be drug related.

    “As long as they continues to destroy our kids and country with drugs we will destroy them as well,” a commentator from South Africa said.

  • Another set of 258 Nigerians return from Libya

    No fewer than 258 more Nigerian returnees from Libya arrived the country on Thursday aboard a chartered Airbus A330-200 with registration mark 5A-LAT operated by Libya Airlines.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the aircraft landed about 9:43pm at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

    The 258 voluntary returnees, who include four children and one infant were made up of of 233 males, 25 females.

    Their return was facilitated by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Nigerian embassy in Libya.

    They were received at the Hajj Camp area of the airport by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the National Agency for the Protection of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police.

    Addressing newsmen, Ms Julie Okah-Donli, the newly appointed Director-General of NAPTIP, said the agency was particularly interested in those that were trafficked.

    “After the profiling have been done, for those that have been trafficked, we will take them away to our shelters,” she said.

    According to her, the agency is working with the international community to clamp down on the trafficking syndicate.

    “They are doing their investigation and very soon we will be able to come out with effective results,” she said.

    Also, Dr Onimode Bandele, Director, Search and Rescue, NEMA, said some of the returnees had medical issues.

    He said some of them were suffering from depression and malnutrition, while one person sustained gun injury.

    TheNewsGuru.com recalls that NEMA, had on Wednesday said another batch of 250 Nigerians would voluntarily return to the country from Libya on Thursday.|

     

     

    NAN

     

  • Another batch of 250 Nigerians return from Libya Thursday – NEMA

    The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, on Wednesday said another batch of 250 Nigerians would voluntarily return to the country from Libya on Thursday.|

    NEMA’s spokesman for South-West Zone, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, told the newsmen in Lagos that the returnees were expected to arrive at the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company/Hajj Camp section of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, at about 3.00pm.

    More than 253 Nigerians had on April 25 voluntarily returned from Libya aboard a chartered Libya Airlines — Airbus A330-200 — with registration no. 5A-LAT.

    The returnees comprise 102 males, 140 females and 11 children.

    They were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration and the Nigerian Embassy in Libya.

    The returnees were received at the Hajj Camp of the airport by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service, the National Agency for the Protection of Trafficking in Persons and the Police.

    Also on the ground to receive them were officials of NEMA and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that hundreds of Nigerians have been forced out of Libya in recent times against the backdrop of hostile treatment meted out to blacks by Libyan citizens and the authorities.

    Senior Special Adviser to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had said that the Federal Government valued their lives, hence the partnership with IOM and NEMA to ensure their safe return.

     

     

    NAN

  • We’ll feed Nigerians from third party information on Buhari’s health – Presidency

    We’ll feed Nigerians from third party information on Buhari’s health – Presidency

    The presidency has said it will regularly update Nigerians on developments concerning President Muhammadu Buhari’s health from information reeled out by those close to him (Buhari) in London.

    This was revealed on Tuesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu while fielding questions on a monitored programme on television.

    He gave the explanation when he was asked if he would be joining the President in London in order to update Nigerians on development concerning Buhari’s health from time to time.

    The presidential spokesman said he would not join the President in London because he (Buhari) is entitled to his privacy.

    He said the media team would rely on the information that would be made available by those with the President.

    “No. I don’t think I will go. I hope the President has the privacy that he needs with his doctors and regains his health. We will continue to rely on third party from my own point of view,” he said.

    TheNewsGuru.com recalls that President Buhari had on Sunday evening returned to London for medical consultation, making it the second time he would be proceeding on medical leave this year.

    The 74-year-old Nigerian leader had left the country on January 19 on what the Presidency described then as a medical vacation.

    When the trip was prolonged, presidential aides announced that the President would be staying back in London to enable him to collect results of some medical tests conducted on him.

    Buhari returned to the country on March 10 after a 49-day medical sojourn, saying he had never been that sick in his life.

    Lately, the President has not been seen attending public functions as he was absent three times in the weekly Federal Executive Council meetings, causing anxiety among Nigerians.

    His handlers, however, insisted that the situation was nothing to worry about as he was only resting based on his doctor’s instructions.

    However, on his recent trip, the president in his letter to the National Assembly had stated that his medical team will determine the duration of his stay saying he has constitutionally handed over to his vice (Prof. Yemi Osinbajo) to act in his stead in other to avoid any vacuum in government while he is away.

  • Adeniyi’s Book: You lied to incite Nigerians against Jonathan, Ijaw leaders, Clark blasts Obasanjo

    Adeniyi’s Book: You lied to incite Nigerians against Jonathan, Ijaw leaders, Clark blasts Obasanjo

    Former Minister of Information and paramount Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, on Wednesday, lambasted former President Olusegun Obasanjo for allegedly telling lies aimed at inciting Nigerians against former President Goodluck Jonathan and Ijaw leaders in general.

    Clark, stated this in an open letter addressed to Obasanjo, over his remarks in the recently published book titled “Against the Run of Play” by Olusegun Adeniyi.

    He said the former President’s narrations in Adeniyi’s new book were false and despicable especially as it concerns him and other Ijaw leaders.

    “For instance, some of the statements you made against me in your book “Under My Watch” were the same statements you repeated in Olusegun Adeniyi’s book which is an arrangement between the two of you to condemn the Ijaw and to incite other Nigerian leaders to disparage the Ijaw leaders particularly myself and the younger ones like Asari Dokubo whom you kept in prison for two years without trial until we begged you to release him,” he stated.

    He however challenged Obasanjo to tell Nigerians “… what do you really want from Jonathan and the Ijaw people? Most of the various issues you raised in collaboration with Olusegun Adeniyi’s book “Against the Run of Play” are mere re-visitation of the many things you did and failed to do in your eight years of mis-governance.”

    Clark also refuted Obasanjo’s claims that Jonathan was clannish and surrounded himself with his Ijaw kinsmen.

    This, he said, was one of the reasons he (Obasanjo) gave for not supporting Jonathan’s candidature in the 2015 Presidential Election.

    The Ijaw leader, who is also the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, accused Obasanjo of being responsible for the travails the nation was currently going through.

    Clark said, “Another criticism you made against Jonathan was Jonathan’s way of handling Boko Haram and that Jonathan was not interested in accountability and that if Jonathan was therefore allowed to continue in 2015 it would no doubt damage the whole country.

    “And that Jonathan and his people turned Boko Haram into an industry for making money. I think this is very uncharitable…, you should name how Jonathan and his people turned Boko Haram into a money-making industry and who are his people that benefited from that industry?”