Video - Nigerian military denies UN report on human rights violations

Nigeria's military is rejecting a UN report that placed equal blame on the military and Boko Haram for killing and maiming hundreds of children in the country's north east. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam has more.

Video - U.S. court awards P&ID $8.89 billion against Nigeria government

A United States' district court has awarded Process and Industrial Developments Limited 6.59 billion dollars and interest of 2.3 billion dollars after the Nigerian government failed in its part of the deal. The company got into a contract with the government for gas supply.

British Nigerian jailed for trafficking women

A London-based nurse has been sentenced to 14 years in prison following a landmark prosecution which saw her convicted for trafficking Nigerian women to Europe and forcing them into sex work.

Josephine Iyamu, 51, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, 13 years for the slavery offences and 1 year for perverting the course of justice, to be served consecutively. She will serve at least half of that in prison, the rest on the licence.

Iyamu is the first British national to be convicted under the Modern Slavery Act for offences committed overseas, UK’s National Crime Agency said in a statement on its website.

In July 2017, The National Crime Agency’s (NCA) investigation into Iyamu began following information from the German Police who had identified one of her victims working in a brothel in Trier.

Investigations showed that she had positioned herself as a rich and powerful woman in Nigeria and had launched a political campaign through which she claimed she wanted to empower women and families.

Iyamu recruited vulnerable women from rural villages and promised them a better life in Europe but was arrested by NCA officers after landing at Heathrow airport on a flight from Lagos on 24 August 2017.

Whilst in prison, she made attempts to trace and intimidate the victims and their families together with bribing law enforcement officers into proving her innocence.

On 28 June 2018 at Birmingham Crown Court, she was found guilty of five counts of facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation and one count of attempting to prevent the course of justice.

The NCA’s financial investigation into Iyamu’s illicit earnings and assets continues.

Speaking as he sentenced Iyamu, Judge Richard Bond described Iyamu’s victims as “naive and trusting women who only wanted to make theirs and their families lives better,” and said she had seen them as “commodities…to earn you money.” During their journey to Europe, he said they had been “exposed to a real and significant risk of death.”

Kay Mellor, operations manager at the NCA, said Iyamu specifically targeted vulnerable women and put them through the most horrific experience for her own financial gain.

“She thought living in a different country to were her crimes were committed would protect her. Working closely with our Nigerian and German colleagues however we were able to bring her to justice right here in the UK.

Mellor added that Iyamu’s expenditure on travel and properties far outweighed her legitimate earnings as a nurse and investigation into her finances is ongoing.

National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Director-General, Dame Julie Okah-Donli said: “As part of our renewed determination to root out human trafficking from Nigeria, we have strengthened our networking and collaboration with the relevant sister law enforcement agencies around the world. This simply means that there no more a hiding place for any human trafficker around the world.”

He further commended the officers of NAPTIP and the partners in NCA for the heart-warming development.

Guardian

Nigerian football fan in Russia seeks political asylum

A football fan from Nigeria has reportedly requested political asylum in Russia, citing fears of political persecution in his home country, the Moscow Times reports. Human rights groups say it is difficult for asylum seekers to obtain refugee status in Russia, with only 582 people admitted as refugees in 2017, the lowest number in the past decade.

Since the World Cup began, dozens of people who entered Russia using World Cup fan identity documents have attempted to enter neighbouring European countries and request asylum.

The 31-year-old citizen of Nigeria arrived to Russia for the World Cup before asking police in the Perovo district of Moscow for political asylum, the RBC news agency reported, citing an unnamed police source. “The man said that he had participated in anti-government protests in his country and that his life was currently threatened by Nigerian government forces,” the police source was cited as saying. 

The asylum request has been transferred to a local migration services branch of the Interior Ministry, RBC reported. According to Russian law, political asylum requests are granted by presidential decree.

Vanguard

Video - France sign $475 million agreement on projects with Nigeria

France's Emmanuel Macron is wrapping up his two day state visit to Nigeria. The French president and his Nigerian counterpart Muhamadu Buhari have signed a 475 million dollar agreement for the implementation of different projects in Lagos, Kano and Ogun States.