News
Indonesia To Execute 12 Nigerians, Friday
About 14 Nigerians convicted for drug trafficking, including foreigners will face the firing squad in Indonesia by Friday after authorities, yesterday, gave notice of their executions, despite protests from governments and rights groups, a diplomat has said.
The Deputy Pakistani Ambassador in Jakarta, Syed Zahid Raza, said the convicts, who include a Pakistani, could be executed around midnight, Friday after officials signalled the start of a 72-hour notice period at a meeting with diplomats.
Nationals from Pakistan, India, Nigeria and Zimbabwe are expected to be executed alongside Indonesians.
Officials say no Europeans or Australians will be included in the third round of executions under President Joko Widodo.
Indonesia sparked international outrage with its last batch of executions in April, 2015, when it put to death seven foreigners, including two Australians.
But Widodo has insisted Jakarta is fighting a war against drugs, and traffickers must be harshly punished.
Pakistan has so far publicly voiced the most concern about the upcoming executions, and its Foreign Ministry, yesterday, summoned the Indonesian Ambassador to Islamabad to convey their concerns about the case of their national, 52-year-old Zulfiqar Ali.
Activists say that Ali, sentenced to death in 2005 for heroin possession, was beaten and tortured into confessing and did not receive a fair trial.
Rights groups have also called on Indonesia to halt the planned executions, citing worries about irregularities with some convictions.
In a statement, Amnesty International urged “the country’s authorities to halt all executions and to take immediate steps to ensure that the cases of all those under sentence of death are reviewed by an independent and impartial body”.
Authorities have been making preparations, with death row drug convicts transferred to Nusakambangan island prison, where Indonesia puts convicts to death, and 14 prisoners reportedly placed in isolation, an unusual step before executions.
It was learnt that about 1,500 policemen were being deployed around Cilacap, the town closest to Nusakambangan, and visitors have been barred for a week, just as Muslim and Christian spiritual counsellors were seen crossing to the island.
Raza said Indonesian officials had informed diplomats from several countries and lawyers of the notice period at yesterday’s meeting in Cilacap.
He said officials did not mention a precise date or time for the executions but added: “It might be Friday at midnight.”
It is a legal requirement in Indonesia to give a minimum notice period of 72 hours before executions.
Authorities typically carry out executions just after midnight following the end of the notice period.
When contacted, the attorney general’s office, which oversees executions, would not confirm any details but its spokesman, Mohammad Rum said: “The time is approaching.”
There have also been concerns over the case of a female Indonesian drug convict, Merri Utami, who is among the group.
Rights group, the National Commission on Violence Against Women, say the former domestic worker was tricked into trafficking heroin.
Indonesia — which has some of the toughest anti-drugs laws in the world — executed 14 drug convicts, mostly foreigners, including two Nigerians in two batches last year.
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.