2, February 2018
French Cameroun soldiers invasion: Nigerian Senator calls on Aso Rock to explore diplomatic channel 0
The Senator representing Cross River Central, John Owna Enoh, Thursday asked the Federal Government to quickly explore official channels of communication between the country and Cameroon to protest the violation of the territorial integrity of Nigeria by Cameroon soldiers.
Enoh said that exploring diplomatic means to deal with the issue became imperative following reports that about 100 Cameroon soldiers allegedly crossed the international border into Danare on Monday night in search of the country’s militants in a crackdown on Anglophone secessionists said to have sought refuge in Nigeria.
The Cross River Central lawmakers in a statement recalled that the latest attack came on the heels of a similar attack on the same communities which falls within his constituency in December 2017.
Enoh said that in swift response to the dastardly attack on law abiding citizens of Danare, he through a motion of urgent national importance on the floor of the Senate drew the attention of Nigerians and the government to the unwarranted attack.
The lawmaker noted that he had among other prayers, called on the federal authority to deploy troops to Danare as a deterrent to stem further incursion and aggression on his constituents by Cameroonian soldiers.
The deployment of a battalion of Nigerian soldiers in the area, he said, seems not to have deterred the incursion from Cameroonian soldiers.
He described the latest invasion of Danare as unfortunate, condemnable and “constitutes a gross violation of the inalienable rights of my people to peaceful co-existence.”
He insisted that “the peaceful and law abiding citizens of Danare deserve a peaceful environment in order to pursue their legitimate aspirations.” The incessant violation of the inalienable rights of the people, which he described as fundamental, by Cameroonian soldiers, he said, is unacceptable.
“I therefore use this medium to call on the Federal Government to explore all official channels of communication between Nigeria and Cameroon to protest this violation of the territorial integrity of our nation,” he said.
Enoh said that Nigerian troops who have already been deployed in Danare should live up to their professional calling in defence of the people of Danare.
According to him, the presence of Nigerian troops reassuring as it is to the people of Danare, should not be mere tokenism but should be informed by a full evaluation of the military challenges and the consequent deployment of adequate number of soldiers who will be in the position to respond adequately to deter further attacks.
Enoh appealed to the Nigerian soldiers on ground to continue to fully discharge their professional duties in defence of the people of Danare and the territorial integrity of the Nigerian State.
Source: The Nation
7, February 2018
Kenya deports opposition firebrand 0
An outspoken member of Kenya’s opposition accused of treason for taking part in a mock swearing-in of opposition leader Raila Odinga was deported to Canada late Tuesday.
The move came in defiance of a High Court order that he be presented before a judge on Wednesday.
Miguna Miguna, a provocative firebrand and member of the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition, was forced onto an international flight on Tuesday night.
“Miguna denounced his Kenyan citizenship years back, acquired Canadian citizenship and never bothered to reclaim Kenyan citizenship in the legally prescribed manner neither did he disclose that he had another country’s citizenship despite being a lawyer who should have known better,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka in a tweet Wednesday.
Holding dual citizenship is legal in Kenya, and in August, Miguna ran for political office, with proof of Kenyan citizenship, a key criteria for all candidates.
Miguna was put on a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight to Toronto via Amsterdam, a security officer at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport said.
“He was driven in by heavily armed police officers who forced him into a flight to Canada. All deportation procedures have been followed,” the officer said.
Miguna’s lawyer, Nelson Havi, confirmed his client had been “forced into a KLM flight for ‘deportation’ to Canada. Now, how do you deport a Kenyan?” he asked.
On January 30, Miguna played a prominent role in Odinga’s mock inauguration and three days later was arrested in a dawn raid on his Nairobi home.
Since then, there has been much speculation about his whereabouts and his treatment by authorities.
Police and government officials defied two court orders to produce Miguna before a High Court judge earlier this week, instead taking him to a minor court in a small town 80 kilometers to the south on Tuesday.
There, Miguna refused to plea to charges of treason and unlawful assembly.
A subsequent High Court order demanded Miguna be presented for release on Wednesday morning, but his deportation means that order too has been ignored.
High Court judge Luka Kimaru has warned Kenya’s Inspector General of Police and Director of Criminal Investigations that they may be charged with contempt.
Miguna holds no elected office, but has styled himself “general” of the opposition’s “National Resistance Movement” (NRM) wing, in charge of implementing a threatened program of civil disobedience and boycotts.
Following Odinga’s pretend inauguration last week, Kenya’s government designated the NRM as an “organized criminal group.”
Miguna’s enforced exile is the latest twist in the long saga of Kenya’s disputed elections, which saw the Supreme Court annul the result of the initial August 2017 poll and Odinga boycott the October rerun, handing victory to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
However, Odinga continues to insist he was the real winner and therefore the legitimate president of Kenya.
(Source: AFP)