Benue IDP: Group sues FG over humanitarian crisis – Newstrends
Connect with us

metro

Benue IDP: Group sues FG over humanitarian crisis

Published

on

Benue IDP: Group sues FG over humanitarian crisis

A leading human rights organization in Nigeria, Lawyers Alert, has initiated a legal action against the Federal Government and the Attorney-General of the Federation, at the Federal High Court, Makurdi, Benue, over the ongoing humanitarian crisis affecting internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Benue State.

The lawsuit seeks to address the Benue State IDP Crisis with a specific focus on the government’s failure to provide adequate security and facilitate the return of displaced citizens to their ancestral homes.

The Director in charge of Legal Department at Lawyers Alert, Barrister Bamidele Jacobs, said the objective was to ensure that the fundamental rights of the effected vulnerable groups are upheld.

He said, “The lawsuit is grounded in several provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, both of which guarantee the right to life, dignity, personal liberty, and security.

READ ALSO:

“The lawsuit highlights the legal obligations of the Federal Government of Nigeria to protect the lives and property of its citizens, particularly the IDPs in Benue State as enshrined in Sections 33(1), 34(1), 35(1), and 14(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantee the rights to life, human dignity, and personal liberty.

“In addition, Articles 4, 5, 6, 16, 22, and 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights mandate that the government must provide security and ensure the best attainable state of physical and mental health for all its citizens, including displaced persons.

“The lawsuit underscores the deplorable living conditions in the camps, including overcrowding, lack of sanitation, insufficient security, and exposure to diseases, which have disproportionately affected women and children.

Jacobs lamented that reports of sexual violence and rape in the camps have exacerbated the situation and further eroding the dignity and safety of the displaced persons. He called on Federal Government to take necessary actions to address the humanitarian crisis at the Benue IDP camp.

He said Lawyers Alert in its suit is seeking a court declaration that the Nigerian government is bound by law to ensure the security of IDPs and return them to their homes.

Benue IDP: Group sues FG over humanitarian crisis

metro

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

Published

on

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

The federal government has unveiled a proposed budget of N47.9 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year.

Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, disclosed this to journalists on Thursday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Bagudu revealed that the council had approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027.

READ ALSO:

According to the minister, the government has pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel, with an oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd).

The budget also sets the exchange rate at N1,400 per dollar and aims for a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4%.

 

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

Continue Reading

metro

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

Published

on

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told FIJ that they have arrested Timber Wabote, the former executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMB), on the grounds of a failed $35 million Bayelsa refinery project fraud.

Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, confirmed this to FIJ on Thursday.

“It is true,” Oyewale responded to FIJ’s inquiries.

Wabote is accused of misappropriating public funds for a refinery project that should have improved local energy production.

Vanguard reported that the NCDMB under Wabote paid $35 million to support the development of energy infrastructure in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, yet there was nothing to show for it.

The EFCC picked Wabote up following the arrest of Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, for alleged misappropriation, money laundering and diversion of $35 million in public funds.

READ ALSO:

“NCDMB under the watch of Wabote allegedly paid the $35 million to Akindele to build a 2,000 barrel per day (BPD), refinery, jetty, gas plant, power plant, data centre and tank farm at Brass free trade zone (FTZ), Okpoama Community in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State,” a source with the EFCC had explained.

Since December 2020 when the payments were made, Akindele abandoned the project with little or nothing to show for the huge sum he received.

Preliminary investigations showed that Wabote’s NCDMB financed 17 different projects, including the 2,000 BPD refinery in Brass LGA.

There has been a series of public fund misappropriation cases in the energy sector in recent times.

FIJ earlier reported that members of the House of Representatives summoned three ministers to defend how over $2 billion was spent on renewable energy with not much to show for it.

A recent FIJ report also recently detailed how residents of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, have not had power in their homes since July due to the vandalisation of the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission towers caused by unidentified persons.

The Bayelsa state government told FIJ it was the federal government’s responsibility to provide electricity for residents. The state has no renewable energy options reliable enough to power its capital despite the multi-million-dollar NCMB energy project.

Transparency in the energy sector has become necessary at a time when Nigerians have suffered power instability due to frequent grid collapses.

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

Continue Reading

metro

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

Published

on

Yahaya Bello

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested an adjournment in the new case against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, stating that the 30-day window for the previously issued summons is still active.

The commission has granted administrative bail to his co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, and asked the court for an extension of time for Bello to appear.

At the resumed hearing before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, EFCC Counsel Jamiu Agoro noted that the court’s order from October 3rd had not yet expired.

“In that wise, we feel it will not be appropriate for us to take proceedings while that 30 days is still running. So we have discussed and agreed to come back on the 27th day of November, 2024, my lord,” he told the court.

READ ALSO:

He also mentioned that the previously set date of November 20th was not convenient for the prosecution counsels.

Counsel to the second defendant, Aliyu Saiki, SAN, confirmed that his client had been granted administrative bail by the prosecution and had no objection to the adjournment request. The third defendant’s counsel, ZE Abass, concurred.

The prosecution counsel also requested the court to allow the notice of hearing to be pasted on the last known address of the first defendant.

After hearing from all counsels, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and the issuance of the hearing notice.

“I have considered the application for adjournment by the complainant and issuance of hearing notice and the submission by the second and third defendants. The application is granted,” she said.

Justice Anenih then adjourned the case to November 27th for arraignment.

The former governor, alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are being prosecuted as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively, in a fresh 16-count charge instituted against them by the EFCC.

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

Continue Reading

Trending