Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Nigeria suspends passports of 100 passengers who violated COVID-19 rules

The Nigerian government announced the suspension of 100 passports of passengers who failed to comply with a mandatory COVID-19 test following the seventh day of their arrival.

A notice from the government imposed a six-month suspension on their passports with effect from January 1 to June 30.

The notice added that the offending passengers, whose nationalities were not identified, were duly notified of the government’s action.

“Defaulting passengers have been notified and will not be allowed to travel using these passports during this period,” the COVID-19 Presidential Task Force (PTF) said.

In late December, Nigeria imposed tougher measures for passengers traveling into the country, particularly from the UK and South Africa, in the wake of a surge in COVID-19 cases locally and the detection of new COVID-19 variants in those countries.

Passengers from the two countries are to be received and processed separately by public health authorities upon arrival in Nigeria. Additionally, all such passengers are required to self-isolate for seven days after arrival after which they will have to undertake a COVID-19 PCR test.

Passengers who will test positive for COVID-19 thereafter will be referred for isolation and further management while those who test negative will be allowed to leave isolation.

Nigeria has reported more than 90,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 1,300 related deaths, according to data from the World Health Organization.

By David Ochieng Mbewa

CGTN

China jails gang for smuggling pangolin scales from Nigeria

A court in China has jailed 17 people for smuggling pangolin scales worth US$28 million from Nigeria to China.

The creature is the world’s most trafficked mammal in the world and its scales are used for medical reasons in Asia despite there being no evidence they can cure ailments.

The gang was convicted of importing 23 tonnes of scales between 2018 and 2019, the Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern city of Wenzhou said on Tuesday.

Two men identified as “masterminds behind the racket” were sentenced to between 13 and 14 years in prison.

The remaining others were given jail terms ranging from 15 months to 12 years.

The scales were brought in on, among other things, a consignment “hidden in ginger slices”, the court said.
 

Coronavirus link?

China removed pangolin body parts from its official list of traditional medicines in June and raised the animal’s protected status to the country’s highest level due to its dwindling numbers.

Pangolin scales are traditionally used in China for a range of illnesses, including treating blood clots and aiding lactation.

But there is no scientific evidence that they have any medicinal value.

There are some studies that also suggest that the scally creature may have been the intermediate host that transmitted the coronavirus to humans when it first emerged at a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019.

China has since banned the sale of wild animals for food in such markets.

China has cracked down on animal smuggling. In December, the country said it jailed a network accused of running its biggest-ever ivory smuggling ring, which moved elephant tusks worth millions of dollars from West Africa into the mainland’s vast domestic market.

AFP

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Video - Nigeria's Central Bank devalued the Naira three times in 2020



Last year was the most challenging year for Nigeria's economy as it slumped into a recession after coronavirus pandemic exacerbated economic downtown. Nigeria's Central Bank devalued the Naira three times in a bid to close a widening exchange gap between the local currency and the US Dollar.

 

Monday, January 4, 2021

Video - Nigerian Bird Singing Competition

Culture and sports are intertwined and that's part of the reason for the appreciation of traditional sports in many countries across the world. Some of these sports are not as popular like football, but still have diehards fans who are keeping traditions alive. Bird Singing is one such traditional sport in Nigeria. It's certainly not very prominent but nonetheless has its own fan base. CGTN's Deji Badmus tells us more in this report.

The story behind ‘Oloture,’ Nigeria’s Netflix sex-trafficking drama

Clad soberly in a checkered knee-length dress, Tobore Ovuorie hardly seems as if she once walked the streets of Lagos in a revealing outfit and high heels.

A freelance reporter with a burning desire to uncover the truth about a sordid backstreet trade, Ovuorie dressed as streetwalker to infiltrate a prostitution ring.

She took on the dangerous mission after a friend left for Europe, became a sex worker and died, leaving Ovuorie shocked and beset with questions.

Today, Ovuorie's remarkable story has been turned into a hit Netflix film, Oloture, which has shone a bright light on one of Nigeria's darkest trades.

"I needed to do justice, to know the truth. I wanted to know the process, the back story about these ladies," the 39-year-old reporter told AFP.

By dressing up, she sought to gain the prostitutes' trust - the first step to introducing her to a "madam," a pimp.

After eight months working undercover in 2013, Tobore Ovuorie emerged with a terrifying account about the victims of sex trafficking.

Some were sent to Europe, where they were coerced into becoming sex workers. Others were forced to participate in orgies organized by local politicians. Some became victims of organ trafficking for ritual crimes.

She published her story in 2014 in the Nigerian newspaper Premium Times and Dutch investigative magazine, Zam Chronicles, inspiring a production company in Nigeria to adapt it for the screen.

Released in October on Netflix, the story has been widely watched and applauded in its home country, Africa's most populous market.

"Sometimes investigative journalists in search of the story become the story," director Kenneth Gyang told AFP.

But in this case, the reporter was also "the torch that led us into the lives" of victims, he said.

Disillusion

Sex trafficking is rife in Nigeria, in particular in southern Benin City, a recruiting ground for criminal gangs who smuggle women to Europe.

How many are trafficked is unknown but in Italy, authorities say that between 10,000 and 30,000 Nigerians are prostitutes.

Several thousand others are stuck in Libya or other African countries, often exploited by criminals who make them believe they will one day reach Europe.

In the film, a journalist named Oloture, playing the part of Ovuorie during her investigation, heads to neighboring Benin with a dozen other girls.

From there, their "madam" promises they will depart to Europe in exchange for money (up to $85,000) that they will have to repay once they arrive in Italy.

Very quickly, the journey turns sour.

Instead of heading to the country's border, their minibus stops in a gloomy training camp on the outskirts of Lagos.

There, the girls are roughed up and divided into two groups: "street" prostitutes and "special" prostitutes reserved for wealthier clients.

On screen, the most gripping character is Linda, a young uneducated woman from a poor rural background, who becomes friends with Oloture.

Linda "represents many of those young ladies and how they get in disillusion" said Ovuorie, who came across such a character during her investigation.

For the director, it is exciting that the film is a success in Nigeria.

"We have to see how to make this film available in remote places for young vulnerable women who might be susceptible to be trafficked to Europe," said Gyang.

Emotional toll

On social media, the movie - and its ending - have triggered passionate debate.

"For most of these ladies there is never any light at the end of the tunnel," said Gyang, "so why would you try to make a film that would end on a happy note?"

Ovuorie said that what she saw and experienced during her investigation still haunts her - she is trying to find the women she was meant to go to Europe with, and tell their stories.

Her work has inflicted a heavy emotional cost, she said.

"I'm a shadow of myself, I try to smile, to look bright, but most of the time it's been just me fighting to hold onto life."

AFP 

Related story: New Nollywood film shines a light on human trafficking in Nigeria

Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'