P-Mace

A team of lawyers are ready to file a complaint before the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, on alleged human rights abuses against members of the pro-Biafran separatist movement, Tribune reports.


Dutch lawyer and professor, Göran Sluiter, who specialises in international criminal law, is leading the team that will file the complaint at the Hague in the Netherlands in February.

Sluiter and his colleague, Andrew Ianuzzi, are working full time on the case and are occasionally assisted by a team of 20 other lawyers.

Sluiter told IBTimes UK they had been representing the 'Biafran minority' since the arrest of pro-Biafran leader, Nnamdi Kanu, in October 2015.



"We have found evidence of some crimes directed against the Biafran minority in Nigeria," he said.

"Violations include violence against demonstrators, torture, murder, enforced disappearances and incarcerations.

"There is a whole list of incidents and with Buhari coming into power, this is becoming more of a structured nature, exemplified by Kanu's arrest and how the government is dealing with demonstrations calling for Kanu's release."

Sluiter also made reference to the use of Skype in sourcing evidence and the issue of human rights. He said: "In addition to information on public sources, I have conducted phone and Skype interviews with individual victims as we wanted to hear the first-hand evidence.

Nigerian music producer, Oluwaseyi Akerele popularly known as Shizzi is reportedly at war with fellow music producer, MasterKraft and singer/comedian Tunde Ednut over beat theft.

It is reported by Jaguda.com that the issue is in relation to the instrumental for Tunde Ednut’s latest song – Kosowo, which was produced by Masterkraft.

According to the serial hit-maker, he originally made the beat for Wande Coal in 2014 but the project was left pending. Tunde Ednut allegedly heard the beat and had Masterkraft re-make it for his song - ‘Kosowo’.

Jaguda.com further revealed that Shizzi through his lawyers has written a letter to Tunde Ednut and Masterkraft to promptly take-down all the download links for the song and desist from all promotion of it.

He was charged with seven counts  of money laundering involving the sum of N400m, part of the $2.1bn arms fund.


Following criticism that the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, is being detained illegally, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged him to court.

He was charged with seven counts  of money laundering involving the sum of N400m, part of the $2.1bn arms fund which he allegedly collected from the office of the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki in 2014.

The EFCC filed the charge, with number FHC/ABJ/CR/05/2016, on today, January 14.

READ: Olisa Metuh says he’d rather starve than return N400M collected from Dasuki

It said the the money was transacted through Metuh and a company, Destra Investments Limited, where he has interest. He allegedly collected it for PDP political activities.

Tam-George made the disclosure on Tuesday, January 5, 2016, while addressing Government House correspondents in Port Harcourt.



Rotimi Amaechi, the minister of transportation, in a forum, revealed that the Federal Government will probe the oil sector after the ongoing probe of the $2.1b arms purchase scam.

He said the government will certainly look into the $49bn oil money, that was reported missing by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido.

Amaechi said  “Even before Sanusi and President Goodluck Jonathan began to quarrel, I had to leak that letter. Sanusi wrote that letter to the President in September, I leaked it sometime in January, and that letter was personal: ‘Mr. President, $49bn was missing,’ and I got a copy of that letter.”

He also said “Instead of the Federal Government to say we are going to address this, they began to debate with the CBN governor and Nigerians join in the debate. Oh, it is not possible. Now, they have seen that is possible.”

The former Rivers state Governor, was recently accused of spending N82 million on a dinner for Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka.

The minister was also accused of leaving the state’s coffers empty by his successor, Governor Nyesom Wike

Since 2009, the programme has provided job training and education to former rebels who wrought havoc on the oil-rich southern region before that by kidnapping foreign workers and attacking oil facilities, crippling the country's key industry.



Nigeria's amnesty programme for former Niger Delta militants will continue for at least another year contrary to expectations that it was due to be shut down, a programme spokesman said on Thursday.

Since 2009, the programme has provided job training and education to former rebels who wrought havoc on the oil-rich southern region before that by kidnapping foreign workers and attacking oil facilities, crippling the country's key industry.

Many, particularly in the oil sector, feared an end to the amnesty programme could trigger fresh unrest there. President Muhammadu Buhari indicated in his inaugural speech last May that he would let it expire and replace it with other investments.

Buhari, a northern Muslim, defeated the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian, on an anti-corruption platform in the March 2015 presidential election.

His intention to end the programme has caused tensions between his administration and Delta leaders.

Despite being home to Nigeria's vast oil and gas resources, the Delta states remain underdeveloped and frequent oil spills have devastated the ecosystem and local fishing communities.

Instead of closing it down, the government will streamline the amnesty programme launched to give 30,000 former militants a chance to find productive work.

"We're in the last phase of the amnesty to reintegrate those who have gone through various programmes and trainings, a gradual wind down," programme spokesman Owei Lakemfa said.

The programme is helping about 17,000 who have finished training to set up a business or find jobs, out of which 10,000 are expected to go through this process by the end of this year. The rest will stay on until they complete their courses.

The spokesman did not give an end date for the programme.

For those who want to start a business, the programme will budget 2.3 million naira ($11,500) per beneficiary, providing training in running a business, renting premises and getting government permits.

"For fish farming, for instance, there will be provision of a pond," said Dortimi Kester Tawari, who is running this part of the programme. "For welding, equipment will include materials to be used for the first 3-6 months."

The programme is also changing how beneficiaries will receive their monthly 65,000 naira ($325) stipends, which were previously distributed through former militant leaders.

That system was prone to abuse, so payments will now be sent directly to individual participants in the

Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka wants security agents in the country to consider critics of his recent prophecy on a plot to assassinate President Muhammadu Buhari, as prime suspects.

READ: Fr. Mbaka Attacked for Prophesying Assassination of President Buhari



Rev Fr Mbaka made the call via a statement issued by Adoration Ministry media chief, Ike Maximus Ugwuoke, on Tuesday, January 12, in Enugu; DAILY SUN reports.

In the statement, the ministry wondered why those who he described as “democratic miscreants” are not perturbed by the other prophecies made by Mbaka except the plot to kill Buhari.

“Are they guilty or privy to the plot which the man of God had exposed? The laborious manner with which they attacked the prophetic message in an attempt to filibuster and water it down betrays their innocence on this issue and this should make them prime suspects in the list of the nation’s intelligence security surveillance''.

“Section 38(1) respects universal right to freedom of religion and to manifest and propagate same either or in community with others in public or private just as it guarantees freedom of expression in Section 39.

“If the Constitution which gave every citizen of this country the right to worship did not prohibit him from declaring the message he receives from the God he worships, we then wonder why a priest of God and a citizen of this country should be threatened for exercising his constitutional right.

“A situation where the fundamental human rights which is the tenet of the ideals of democracy is bastardised by an acclaimed human rights group that is meant to protect same is indeed worrisome and makes mockery of the nomenclature.”

A human rights group had threatened to drag Fr Mbaka to the Pope, if the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria failed to reproof him and stop him from actively associating with politician.

The ministry called on the human rights group to “withdraw that threat forthwith or face the legal consequence. We know of the utterances by many leaders of different churches at the beginning of this year who in exercise of their religious freedom predicted so many things such as plane crash, bank robbery, bank collapse, natural disasters etc, no one threatened to sanction them. The question is; why should Fr Mbaka’s prophecy always attract venomous criticism by some Nigerian, especially by the so-called Christians who will never talk about the manifest miracles of God through him and his consummate charitable life?

“Was the fulfillment of his prophecy of President Buhari’s victory last year which earned him and the ministry the highest media attack ever not yet enough lesson to Nigerians that Fr Mbaka is indeed a prophet of God and a gift to this nation?

“Last year when Fr Mbaka prophesied the defeat of former President Goodluck Jonathan, many Christian including notable clergymen branded him a false prophet and clamoured for his sanction. Now that the prophecy came true with Buhari’s victory, why shouldn’t the acclaimed sanctions be meted to those clergies whom the manifestation of Fr Mbaka’s prophecy has proved to be the real false prophets?

“No one seems to think about this. It is unfortunate that some men of God and so-called Christians either for lack of prayer points or out of chronic envy and jealously now make ‘Fr Mbaka’ the topic for exhortation in their gatherings. This also explains why the recent speculations on his transfer has taken the place of sermon in some churches and even made national news headline even when there is no official communication of such.

“We love our president and his life means much to us, especially at this point of the nations’ history when he is fighting the most dread wars in the world, the hydra-headed war against corruption and insurgency.

“Besides Fr Mbaka’s prophecy of the plans of the enemies against him, no good thinking citizen of this country would believe that the victims of Mr President’s war against corruption would be smiling at him. That is why we should not relent in praying for Mr President and will never spare any one or group of persons that may want to distract Fr Mbaka and his commitment to the spiritual welfare of this nation.”

The Presidency through Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, has reacted to media reports on the missing 2016 budget.



Reacting via Twitter, Shehu Garba wrote, ''Enquiries about the budget: Nobody except the President can withdraw the budget. As far as we know, he hasn't done that''.

''The copies in their hundreds have been delivered to both chambers of the National Assembly''.

''By tradition, once the budget is submitted, it ceases to be our property. Enquiries as to where it is should be directed to the appropriate quarters. Best regards''.