metro
China opens police station in Nigeria
The Chinese government has opened police stations in Nigeria and in over 20 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa in its effort to tackle the increasing criminal activities of its citizens abroad.
This was contained in an investigative statement titled, ‘110 Overseas Chinese Transnational Policing Gone Wild.’
It was widely reported that the police stations are created to bring “down on all kinds of illegal and criminal activities involving overseas Chinese.”
Lesotho and Tanzania are the two other African countries apart from Nigeria that have Chinese police stations.
The report by Safeguard Defender revealed, “Rather than cooperating with local authorities in the full respect of territorial sovereignty, it prefers…to cooperate with (United Front-linked) overseas ‘NGOs’ or ‘civil society associations’ across the five continents, setting up an alternative policing and judicial system within third countries, and directly implicating those organisations in the illegal methods employed to pursue ‘fugitives’.”
It further said that as part of a massive nationwide campaign to combat fraud and telecommunication fraud by Chinese citizens living abroad, Chinese authorities claimed that from April 2021 to July 2022, 230,000 nationals had been, “persuaded to return” to face criminal proceedings in China.
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China’s official statements clarified the use of depriving suspects’ children of the right to education back in China and other actions against relatives and family members in a full-on “guilt by association” campaign.
The rights group revealed that China selected nine countries as having serious fraud, telecom fraud and web crimes, and Chinese nationals were no longer allowed to stay in those countries without “good reason.”
“While establishing these operations to hunt down those accused of fraud and telecommunications fraud, China identified nine countries particularly prone to hosting Chinese nationals engaging in such criminal activities, the ‘nine forbidden countries’,” the Safeguard explained.
However, the setting up of overseas police ‘service stations’ was a worldwide phenomenon, with the majority of such being in western democratic nations, with a particular focus on Europe, and not in the ‘nine forbidden countries’.
The group also noted that forsaking any “pretext of due process or the consideration of suspects’ innocence until proven guilty, targeting suspects’ children and relatives in China as ‘guilty by association’ or ‘collateral damage’, and using threats and intimidation to target suspects abroad, is now itself becoming an endemic problem.”
“Whether the targets are dissidents, corrupt officials or low-level criminals, the problem remains the same: The use of irregular methods — often combining carrots with sticks — against the targeted individual or their family members in China undermines any due process and the most basic rights of suspects,” Safeguard Defender further stated.
Vanguard
Health
Gov Otti opens OSSAP-SDG-built multipurpose hospital in Abia
Gov Otti opens OSSAP-SDG-built multipurpose hospital in Abia
- We’ll achieve SDGs by 2030, says Tinubu aide
Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, has inaugurated a 100-Bed Mother and Child Centre, a multipurpose hospital built by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs) in Ugwunabo, Abia State.
The governor, speaking at the event on Wednesday, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for siting the hospital in Abia State.
Otti promised that the facility would be judiciously used, adding that the state was planning to establish a medical village that would put an end to people travelling abroad for medical issues.
He hailed Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, for her tireless efforts in achieving SDGs.
He pledged the support of Abians for the SDGs’ office and President Tinubu.
Princess Orelope-Adefulire thanked President Tinubu for his sterling leadership and commitment to working closely with sub-national governments to deliver key interventions and fast-track the achievement of the SDGs in Nigeria.
“I would like to most sincerely thank Governor Otti for his unwavering commitment to the socio-economic transformation of Abia State and our collective desire to achieve the SDGs in Nigeria,” she said.
According to her, the SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, safeguard the planet and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity by the year 2030.
She stressed that the SDGs could not be achieved with standalone policies and programmes.
“They must be carefully integrated into our medium and long-term national and sub-national development policies and plans.
“It is in recognition of this that we are supporting the 36 states and the FCT on SDG-based Development Planning.
“In line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, we are committed to prioritizing key interventions with multiplier effects on multi-dimensional poverty, such as basic healthcare, vocational skills development and education provisioning.
“With COVID-19 pandemic challenging our healthcare system, strategic interventions, such as the Mother and Child Centre, have become imperative.”
The SSA to the President explained that the 100-Bed Mother and Child Centre (MCC) is equipped with state-or-the-art facilities.
She said, “They include among others two operating theatres, recovery rooms; private and general wards, scanning room, consultation rooms and laboratory.
Others are ultra-scan machine, vacuum extractor delivery set, and an emergency cart with full complements. The MCC is directly linked to the achievement of SDG-3 on ‘Quality Health and Well-being for all’, as well as other cross-cutting SDGs.
“OSSAP-SDGs has worked tirelessly to construct and furnish this state-of-the-art facility as a strategic tool for healthcare service provisioning in the state.
“It is therefore expected that the state and local governments will make judicious use of the facilities in a sustainable way for the benefit of our mothers and children.
“Let me conclude by encouraging us to make this Mother and Child Centre a beacon of hope and a testament to our collective dedication to building healthier and more prosperous communities. May it serve as a reminder that by investing in maternal and child health, we invest in the very foundation of our society’s well-being. Together, let us continue to strive for excellence in healthcare delivery and create a future where every mother and child can thrive.
“I would like to reaffirm our commitment to the achievement of the SDGs by the year 2030. We will continue to prioritize interventions with potential impact on the lives of the poor and vulnerable members of our society so that no ‘Nigerian is left behind’.”
The OSSAP-SDGs also organised a sensitization and advocacy programme for major stakeholders in the state on the acceleration of the SDGs.
metro
Gunmen attack Abuja-bound bus in Kogi, abduct all passengers
Gunmen attack Abuja-bound bus in Kogi, abduct all passengers
Gunmen have kidnapped several passengers traveling in a bus at Okene, Kogi State.
According to a viral post on X, the passengers were en route from Edo State to Abuja on Wednesday when they were attacked.
The bus, owned by Big Joe Motors, a transport company based in Benin, had its driver among the abducted. The Kogi Police Command confirmed the incident.
David Aiguobagbon, a manager at the Abuja branch of Big Joe Motors, told Premium Times on Thursday that he was unsure how many people were kidnapped since the bus, which has a capacity for 13 passengers, had some passengers who managed to escape.
“We do not use or have 18 passenger buses, we only have 13. According to what we heard, there were 13 people, and some of the passengers were able to escape.
“And we have reported it to the police station where the incident happened. But we don’t know the fact yet if it was 13 or 18.
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“Some of the passengers left their phones behind and we have not received any call from the kidnappers yet demanding any ransom,” he said.
Mr Aiguobagbon said one of the company’s managers has travelled to Kogi State in connection with the incident.
“One of our managers is already at the police station in Kogi State helping the police out. We have not heard from the driver yet. He has two phones, one was left behind and he was with the second one. We have been trying to reach him. Yesterday, his phone was still going but it was already switched off this morning.
“What we are begging is for the families of the people to exercise patience with us, we are working with the police and it will be successful. If any family has been contacted for ransom, they should please contact us,” he said.
Meanwhile, a X user, @Pn Stuff, has posted on his account that the kidnappers are demanding N30 million ransom.
“I just called the Abuja Big Joe secretary to confirm and she said it’s true and the kidnappers are asking for #30M.”
Gunmen attack Abuja-bound bus in Kogi, abduct all passengers
metro
How cultists disguised as friends to kill Ogun varsity final year student
How cultists disguised as friends to kill Ogun varsity final year student
The ongoing examination at Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun, Ogun State, was on Wednesday distrupted, when hoodlums, suspected to be cultists stormed the institution, dragged out a final-year student, Ahmed Ayinla Fabiyi, and killed him.
The incident, according to a reliable source, occured around 3pm, as the exam was about to commence.
It was gathered that the gang disguised as friends, ostensibly there to surprise Fabiyi for his birthday, and “carried” him out of the hall under this pretence.
Another source said, the men dragged him to a corner where they shot at him and hit him with a brick on the head. They waited to ensure that he was dead before leaving the scene.
The source said, “They (History and Diplomatic Studies students) were having their final paper when some boys suspected to be cultists stormed the examination venue and dragged him out.
“They kicked him, shot at him, and hit him with a brick on the head.
“It was when they realised he was lifeless that they left before the school security men came to pick him up to the school clinic, where he was confirmed dead.”
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Confirming the incident in a statement, the institution’s Students Union President, Bethel Olorunfunmi, said efforts to save the life of the victim by medical personnel proved abortive.
Olorunfunmi said, “It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of a tragic incident that occurred today. A fellow student was attacked on the school premises and, despite the best efforts of medical staff at the General Hospital, he sadly passed away. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the family and friends of the student during this difficult time.
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