News
ActionAid Calls for Stop in Infanticide
ActionAid Calls for Stop in Infanticide
… Rescues over 100 babies from Killing in Partnership with Vine Heritage Foundation
By: Michael Mike
ActionAid Nigeria has called for immediate stop in infanticide and social profiling of children with distinct birth.
The non governmental organisation on Friday said it was wrong and unacceptable at this age and time that people are still involved in activities that they term as cultural belief and practices of killing of twins, which include multiple births.
ActionAid said the negative profiling does not exclude children who lost their mothers during birth who are believed to be witches and wizards, children born with albinism are not allowed to live, children who grew the upper teeth first are meant to be evil, children who are born with deformities are also believed to have demonic manipulation on them and so they don’t allow them to live .
The Action aid Nigeria as part of his activities for this year and its commitment to collaborating with social movements and citizens to tackle poverty and social injustice across Nigeria, has scheduled to pay a visit to Vine Heritage Home Foundation (VHHF) in Kuje community, Abuja together with board and general assembly members for the main purpose of making children feel good or have sense of belonging.
While speaking during the visit to the Foundation, the Country Director of ActionAid, Mr Andrew Mamedu: “We came upon Vine Heritage Home, and we just naturally got started working with them. The reason was simple. This is an epitome of what ActionAid stands for, fighting for injustice and poverty. So this is an epitome of injustice and poverty where we have man or human inhumanity to human or to children in this instance, and that, of course, attracted us to them. And since then, we have been working closely.
“We partnered with the European Union to put up this edifice. And of course, we have seen a lot of transformation over the year, a positive transformation, improvement in vines heritage. When we first met them, they had about 160 children, and these are children that have been rescued from infanticide. But as of today August 9th, 2024 we have about 203 children and while about 30 has been reconciled back to their family.”
Although, he expected that the number ought to have been reduced but reverse is the case and that alone show that people are still practicing infanticide.
“The amazing things is that, 64 communities around FCT are still practicing infanticide, the good thing is, from the time when we started the number has come down to about 60. So, that means four community have stopped the practice. But it also means that one way or the other, they still bring children here and people are still practicing this ungodly act.”
The founder of Vine Heritage Home Founded, Mr Steven Olusola who complained about some of the challenges faced, said: “What we had in mind before was that as those communities are changing their mind concerning the killing of twins we will be integrating children back to their community but we discovered that some community who have been killing children in silence are now ready to hand them over to us and the number keep on increasing.
“So he appeal to the Government to continue in their efforts in making sure that the practice of infanticide should be totally abolished In FCT. So we need to sustain our advocacy and the awareness that no child should be killed because of the circumstances of their birth.”
ActionAid Calls for Stop in Infanticide
NBMA Debunks Allegations of Negligence, Compromise Against It
By: Michael Mike
The Director General and Chief Executive Officer (DG/CEO) of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Yemisi Asagbra debunked some allegations level against the agency by some non governmental organisations (NGOs) concerning negligence and compromise.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, Asagbra said: “The negative statements circulating are misleading and lack credible scientific backing. The agency asks these organisations to present verifiable scientific evidence for their claims and we relies on sound scientific research and internationally recognized protocols to make informed decisions. It is part of the Cartagena Protocol with over 180 parties, our mandate is to protect the health of Nigerians and the environment. It will not compromise on this as it is an agency of integrity.
She added that: “The agency is transparent and accountable in its operations. It invites review of its processes and rigorous evaluations of GMO products. We are confident in our procedures that it’s meet global standards and it is a leader in effective regulation in Africa”.
On the source of the allegations, she said “over the years they have been advocating to have their presence in the board where all these products coming will be thoroughly Investigated, but it hasn’t been given. Most times we rely on the information given by Nigeria Custom Service to furnish them with needed information, which most time is not always easy if they have other things doing.
The Head planning, research and statistics National Biosafety Management Agency Mrs. Bello Scholastica said the agency is concerned with safety to our health and safety to our environment.
She further reiterated that what NBMA stands for is to establish first regulation from identification of the gene of interest, “of what you are interested in, from then till commercialization, and even after commercialization, they still follow suit to make sure that the approvals they gave hasn’t caused any harm, or those that were given approval to that they stay put to what they were asked to do”.
She further explained that the agency has put in effort to promote environmental conservation and biosafety in Nigeria.
NBMA Debunks Allegations of Negligence, Compromise Against It
House of Reps Assures on Passage of Human Rights Defenders Bill
By: Michael Mike
The House of Representatives has revealed that it is interested in the passage of the Human Rights Defenders Bill into law, saying that the bill has already passed the first reading and will soon be subjected to second reading.
The House also promised to take the necessary steps to ensure an improvement in the 2025 budget of the NHRC, pointing out that the N5 billion approved for it in the 2024 budget is inadequate considering the myriad of human rights violations in the country.
The Chairman House Committee on Human Rights, Hon. Abiola Makinde made this disclosure during the oversight visit of Committee to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The Chairman, who was represented at the occasion by his Deputy, Hon. Mudashiru Lukeman assured the NHRC that the Committee would continue to advance the course of human rights in Nigeria by ensuring that the House of Representatives passes critical bills on human rights issues as well as makes adequate budgetary provisions to ease the work of the Commission.
Makinde also stated that in a bid to improve some aspects of Civil and Political Rights, the House of Representatives had ensured the establishment of human rights desks in all police formations and Headquarters across the 36 States of the Federation.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Dr. Tony Ojukwu who received the lawmakers with his management staff told the Human Rights Committee that the Commission relies heavily on them for the enactment of human rights friendly laws and enhanced budgetary provisions to discharge it broad mandate of promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights in the country.
He used the opportunity to commend the legislators for their role in the amendment of the NHRC Act 2010 as well as the support of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila in the payment of compensation to victims of human rights violations by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
He equally informed the legislators who were on oversight visit about the recent report released by the Commission following the findings of the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency Operations in the North East Nigeria , which he noted has saved the country from possible invitation by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He noted that the aforementioned wide spread allegations of human rights infractions against some government institutions could result in the ICC extending invitations to some of the leaders to respond to the allegations, but the Commission has done the needful in compliance with the international principles of omplementarity.
He thanked the Committee for promising to improve the budgetary allocation of the Commission in the 2025 fiscal year.
House of Reps Assures on Passage of Human Rights Defenders Bill
FG Confirms Arrest of Simon Ekpa
By: Michael Mike
The arrest of Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa in Finland has been confirmed by the federal government.
A statement on Friday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Nigerian-Finnish citizen and prominent leader of the proscribed Indigenous People
of Biafra (IPOB), was arrested by Finnish authorities on Thursday.
According to the statement, Ekpa was
charged with inciting terrorism and promoting violence.
The Finnish District Court of
Päijät-Häme ruled to detain him on probable cause for publicly inciting crimes with terrorist intent.
The Finnish authorities alleged that Mr. Ekpa used social media platforms to spread
separatist propaganda, incite violence and encourage illegal actions, which had caused
significant disruptions in the South-East of Nigeria. Finnish investigators had also linked
him to incidents of violence in Nigeria, which were believed to had been fueled by his
online activities.
The statement said “the arrest of Mr. Simon Njoku Ekpa follows sustained diplomatic
pressure by the Nigerian government on Finland, to take action against his activities,
which were linked to violence and instability in the South-East of Nigeria. The request
for action featured during high level engagements between countries.”
The Ministry stated that the arrest of Ekpa, is a significant development in addressing the activities of IPOB, and also neutralizing the influence of transnational actors and “their impact on our national security.”
The Ministry promised to continue to monitor the legal proceedings and provide further updates as the case progresses.
FG Confirms Arrest of Simon Ekpa
NBMA Debunks Allegations of Negligence, Compromise Against It
Nigerian lawyers Ask to Collaborate with Chinese Colleagues in Law Relating to Investment and Dispute Resolution
House of Reps Assures on Passage of Human Rights Defenders Bill
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