Headline News

21, August 2018

Fru Ndi’s next-of-kin blames Biya for Anglophone crisis ⁰

The main opposition party candidate in Cameroon’s October scheduled elections on Monday said, President Paul Biya is ‘‘the only one responsible’‘ for the conflict in the English-speaking regions of the country.

Joshua Osih, is himself a native of the North and Southwest regions in Cameroon, which have been plagued by a political crisis since 2016.

By the end of 2017, the crisis degenerated into a conflict between armed forces and English-speaking separatists, killing dozens, including at least 80 soldiers and police. 200,000 people were also forced to flee their homes.

“We have a problem with the system and this system has meant that we do not have simple political solutions to simple problems. We have a president who does not understand what is happening in Cameroon, who spends most of his time abroad and who thinks that sending the army as he did in the 1960s with the UPC can solve this problem. He can’t, Osih said.

Anglophone effect on October election

The shadow of this conflict hangs over the organization of the October 7 presidential election in the English-speaking zone, in which Osih and seven other candidates will face 85-year old Paul Biya.

This is the first time he’s running on the ticket of the Social Democratic Front, the main opposition party that was previously represented by its historic leader, John Fru Ndi.

Unlike other candidates, Osih says he is “against” a probe into charges of alleged abuses committed by the army in English-speaking areas, saying he believes, “there is a political responsibility that is far superior to the responsibility of mere military “.

AFP

21, August 2018

FIFA says Nigeria will no longer be suspended ⁰

Global football governing body FIFA on Monday announced that Nigeria will no longer be suspended over a long-running court case focusing on the disputed leadership of its federation.

FIFA said it had received confirmation that the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) had restored control of the body and its offices to its president Amaju Pinnick and secretary-general Mohammed Sanusi.

“In view of these circumstances, FIFA deems that the conditions set by the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council have now been met and consequently the suspension of the NFF will not take effect,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA made its ruling after a spokesman for acting President Yemi Osinbajo said Pinnick and his executive committee were recognised as the leadership of football in Nigeria.

FIFA’s strict non-interference rules

Last week, FIFA threatened to suspend Nigeria and Ghana over if their governments intervened in resolution of leadership and corruption stalemates respectively.

The governments of the two African football powerhouses had intervened in the management of the football federations.

FIFA do not accept third-party interference in its member federations and in the case of Nigeria, warned that it would suspend Nigeria if the NFF was not led by its elected president, voted in 2014.

Nigeria put itself on a collision course with FIFA in July when the government’s sports ministry directed the NFF to comply with a court order to overturn Pinnick’s election and recognise Chris Giwa as its head.

A FIFA ban would have immediately meant that Nigeria would not honour a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Seychelles next month, while they would also have been disqualified from the under-17 African zonal qualifiers in Niger, which kick off on September 2.

Ghana settles with FIFA

Last week, the government of Ghana reached a deal with FIFA to work together to clean up football administration in the country, shelving plans to dissolve the corruption stained federation.

Ghana’s attorney general had taken steps towards dissolving the embattled Ghana Football Association (GFA) after an explosive documentary in June showed officials allegedly soliciting bribes worth millions of dollars.

In both cases, FIFA had its way and will continue to strictly enforce its regulations.

“FIFA will continue to closely monitor the situation in order to ensure that FIFA’s rules and regulations are fully adhered to,” it added.

Source: Africa News

21, August 2018

Spanish police treat knife assault near Barcelona as ‘terrorist attack’ ⁰

A police officer shot dead a man armed with a knife as he tried to attack a police station in the northern Spanish region of Catalonia on Monday, in what authorities are treating as a “terrorist attack”. Police said the man invoked the name of Allah during the assault, which came just days after the first anniversary of a twin attack in Catalonia that killed 16 people.

The man arrived at the closed police station in the town of Cornella de Llobregat near Barcelona at 5:45 am (0345 GMT) and repeatedly pressed the buzzer to be let in, Rafel Comes, a commissioner with the Catalan regional police, told a news conference.

After police allowed him in, the man pulled out a “large knife” and lunged at officers in “a clearly premeditated desire to kill an agent of our force,” Comes said. “The officer used her gun to save her own life,” Comes said, adding the man shouted “Allah” as well as words the police officers did not understand.

“These are enough indication to treat the events being investigated as a terrorist attack.” Anti-terrorism police sources had earlier told AFP the man was a 29-year-old Algerian, but Comes said police still needed to confirm that the Algerian identity papers he carried with him were in fact his.

The police station in Cornella de Llobregat, a working-class town of around 86,000 people, was quickly cordoned off after the attack and the attacker’s body removed, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

‘It was strange’

Police explosives experts searched the man’s flat, which was located just a few hundred metres (yards) from the site of the attack.

Resident Conchi Garcia, a 50-year-old office worker, said the man came to the neighbourhood two years ago, when he moved in with a woman and her two daughters who had always lived in the area. “It was strange that the woman started wearing the veil shortly after he arrived,” Garcia told AFP.

Security has been reinforced at police stations across Catalonia. The incident occurred just days after the one-year anniversary of a deadly jihadist rampage in Catalonia. Sixteen people were killed on August 17 and 18, 2017 when a van drove into crowds on Barcelona’s popular Las Ramblas boulevard and in a knife attack in the nearby resort of Cambrils.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks, Spain’s worst since the Madrid train bombings in 2004 when 191 people died and more than 1,800 were injured. Spain has kept its terrorist alert at the second-highest level since 2015.

‘Centre of jihadist activity’

Catalonia, which is home to a significant number of second-generation North African immigrants, has had a long history of Islamic militant activity. Spain’s first Muslim extremist — a member of the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) — was uncovered in Catalonia in 1995.

Mohammed Atta, the pilot who slammed a passenger plane into one of New York’s World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, spent time in Catalonia shortly before the attacks. And in 2008, police foiled a plot targeting Barcelona’s underground trains.

One in four people detained in Spain in relation to extremist Muslim-linked terrorism come from the Catalan province of Barcelona, according to a study published last year by the Real Instituto Elcano, a Spanish think-tank, which called the province the country’s “main centre of jihadist activity”.

The Islamic State group has frequently called on their followers to attack soldiers and police in neighbouring France.

(AFP)

21, August 2018

Italy lets migrant ship dock, but fate of passengers unclear ⁰

Italy will let its coastguard ship carrying 177 migrants it rescued five days ago dock in Sicily, ending a standoff with Malta, its transport minister said on Monday, though it was not clear when and if the migrants would be allowed to disembark.

The European Commission also said it was working on a solution to share out the migrants aboard the Diciotti with Italy’s EU partners after a request from Italy the previous day. “The Diciotti ship will dock in Catania,” Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said on Twitter without specifying when. “Now Europe must hurry to do its part.”

But shortly afterwards, Interior Ministry sources said Interior Minister Matteo Salvini had not yet given authorisation for the ship to dock. He was awaiting guarantees that the migrants would go elsewhere. The sources said they would not disembark before then.

Since taking office in June, Salvini and Toninelli have toughened the stance on allowing ships to dock in Italian ports at a time of rising anti-immigration sentiment in Italy. The Diciotti picked up 190 migrants on Wednesday from an overcrowded boat on the high seas.

The coastguard quickly evacuated 13 of them to Italy for emergency medical treatment, but instead of bringing the rest to shore, the Diciotti stayed in international waters while Rome insisted that Malta should take them since the migrant boat had first passed through its search-and-rescue area. But Malta said the migrants had refused its aid because they wanted to reach Italy.

On Sunday, Toninelli said the small island nation should be sanctioned for not performing the rescue.

After more than 650,000 arrivals on Italian shores since 2014, Salvini has repeatedly said the country “will no longer be Europe’s refugee camp”, calling on EU partners to share the burden of the arrivals.

Flows across the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy – one of the main routes to Europe – have tapered off as Libyan factions cracked down on people smugglers, and as the EU bolstered its support for the Libyan coast guard.

But people are still dying at sea and summer is peak season for migrants attempting the crossing, often in packed, unseaworthy boats. Brussels said it was in talks with EU states on which of them would take the Diciotti people in, but it declined comment to say which capitals were involved and when help might be on offer.

(REUTERS)

20, August 2018

South Africa inquiry opens into alleged graft under Zuma ⁰

A public inquiry has opened in South Africa, probing alleged corruption under scandal-tainted former president, Jacob Zuma, who is accused of overseeing widespread graft during his nine-year reign.

The inquiry, which could take two years to deliver its findings, is set to hear evidence of allegations that Zuma let ministries and government agencies be plundered for private gain in a scandal known as “state capture.”

Much of the probe is expected to focus on Zuma’s relationship with the Guptas, a wealthy Indian family accused of wielding undue political influence.

An earlier report by a watchdog detailed allegations that Zuma ensured the Gupta family won preferential contracts with state companies, including huge mining deals, and were even able to choose cabinet ministers.

Zuma himself appointed the inquiry in January on the orders of a high court, weeks before he was forced to resign from office as criticism grew from within the ruling ANC party.

Zuma’s alleged involvement in multiple graft scandals damaged the party’s image ahead of elections next year.

His successor President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to tackle corruption.

The inquiry will in part establish whether official appointments were “disclosed to the Gupta family or any other unauthorized person before such appointments were formally made,” said inquiry head Raymond Zondo, the country’s deputy chief justice.

South Africa’s Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, head of an investigation commission into corruption allegations at the highest levels of the state, holds a press conference on January 23, 2018 in Midrand. (Photo by AFP)

Although the inquiry does not have powers to arrest or prosecute, it can refer matters for possible criminal investigation.

“At the heart of the investigation is whether outsiders influenced government or state-owned enterprises for selfish gain,” said the commission’s lead lawyer Paul Pretorius on the inquiry’s opening day.

State funds looted

Pravin Gordhan, a former finance minister now responsible for state companies, has estimated that around 100 billion rand ($6.8 billion) of state funds may have been looted through corrupt awarding of government tenders.

Gordhan is among those expected to give evidence, along with his former deputy Mcebisi Jonas.

Jonas has alleged he was taken by Zuma to the Guptas’ home in Johannesburg, where Ajay Gupta said he would be appointed finance minister.

When Jonas refused, Ajay allegedly offered him 600 million rand and asked if Jonas had a bag to take away 600,000 rand in cash immediately.

Pretorius said the commission would probe whether Zuma violated the constitution “by facilitating the unlawful awarding of tenders of state-owned enterprises.”

Zondo vowed a thorough investigation and called for members of the public to submit their own evidence, but he expressed disappointment at the lack of cooperation from government officials.

The local Sunday Times said Zuma has been invited to appear, but the commission’s spokesman declined to comment.

Zuma and the Guptas deny any wrongdoing.

“I hope that the inquiry gets to the bottom of how the South African state was captured in the way it was and what can be done to prevent this from happening again,” David Lewis, executive director of South Africa’s non-profit organization Corruption Watch, told AFP.

Zuma, 76, was forced to resign in February when ANC lawmakers turned against him.

The former president also has been charged with 16 counts of graft linked to an arms deal from before he became president.

(Source: AFP)

20, August 2018

Bullets that killed Southern Cameroons women and children supplied by France ⁰

Intelligence services of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia have confirmed that bullets and guns used by the French Cameroun army in its genocidal campaign in Southern Cameroons that has claimed the lives of some 2000 people had been supplied by France. The Ambazonian security agents briefed Acting President Samuel Ikome Sako late on Sunday the 19^th of August 2018 in the US.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the Ambazonian leader was provided details including the numbers on the weapon confiscated by restoration forces. Acting President Sako is expected to hold his first international press conference today in Washington DC. The Francophone dominated army has continued its onslaught in Southern Cameroons sparking outrage from international human rights groups and UN officials.

Late last week, Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces hinted our chief intelligence officer in Buea that guns and bullets recovered from the Cameroon government army showed that it was likely manufactured in France. Yaoundé has demonstrated to the international community that its military action in Southern Cameroons is legitimate.

The French government of President Emmanuel Macron has pushed the world to turn a blind eye on the atrocities being committed by French Cameroun soldiers in Southern Cameroons. Recent comments by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji have highlighted the issue of French complicity in the deaths of thousands of Southern Cameroonians.

Recently, hundreds of Ambazonians in Canada took to the streets to condemn the killings and economic hardship caused by the Biya regime war in Southern Cameroons. The French Cameroun army and its CEMAC allies launched a brutal war against Southern Cameroons last year in an attempt to crush the Anglophone uprising.

The Biya Francophone government military offensive initially consisted of helicopter gun-firing campaign, but was later coupled with the deployment of ground forces. The war, however, has so far failed to achieve its goals, thanks to stiff resistance from Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

19, August 2018

An attempt to define the undefinable: Petit Pays the phenomenon ⁰

An attempt to define Petit Pays is an attempt to define, the indefinable. The Greeks once defined man as something between a fool and God- this definition could probably be the peck into which Petit Pays could comfortably fit into, for simple reasons. But if we were to add flesh to this skeleton of a definition, I will start by saying that, the status of an artist has proven itself incapable of holding bound the vertiginous spirit of this man.

Here is a man who for more than 30 years has evolved himself into the most significant and un-avoidable cultural phenomenon in Cameroon. There is arguably no other individual in the history of this country who has sketched, defined, defied, influenced and shaped popular or public opinion. Void of fear, he has gone on to put on the table of public debate, the most inflammatory topics, as per African society-with issues like, homosexuality, sex positions and the eventual death of African Presidents. To name a few

Being the epicenter of contradictions that he is, Petit Pays has proven himself capable of articulating in sound and text, the transcendental dimension of Love a la Eros in tracks like “Ne me Quitte pas”. And on the other hand, has made evident his ability to excel in the profane-by making edible the breast of a woman in a song Like ‘’Bobee’’. Again he is credited with “Loba” one of the most favorite gospel and soul-searching songs in Cameroon; but on the other side of the coin he has gained alarming value in controversial currency for his song “Pede”; which is nothing else but a comic recognition and description of homosexuality in Cameroon. He is continuously seen putting on the griot’s attire for men in power-then will again come up with S.O.S songs decrying the deplorable living conditions of the citizens under their governance. “Refusing to kill the child” in him like every other genius, he is seen on his album covers playing with his sex (Maestro, 2002), dressed like a woman (La Monaco, 2005), and with virtually no quantum of shame

Posing naked (Class F and Class M, 1996), making his entrance into concerts in a coffin, dubbing himself with a multitude of titles and names ranging from Effata to Raba Rabbi or from turbo to omega. As he describes himself, “It seems like I have the genius to shock.” For sure there is no doubt, which the ability to perennially reconstruct one’s image and to surprise the audience is the mark of every true artist.

He remains one of the few Makossa artists continually redefining the genre. For example, by collaborating with the Cape Verdean musical director, Manu Lima, in the early 90’s he created a sub-genre today called Makossa-Love; characterized by the ubiquitous presence of the clavier and its sentimental effect; immensely influenced by the afro-zouk groove popularly played in Lusophone Africa. He as well injected pop and rock colors into Makossa by crowning the presence of the drums in his compositions. To create what can be defined as Makossa-pop; characterized by quick-exciting drum movements.

As a groundbreaker, he made his entrance into the musical scene with two instant hit albums; “ca fait mal” in 1987 and “Ancien Parigo” in 1988 till date considered by most critics as a masterpiece. He holds till date the speed record for album sales in Cameroon after selling in a week 50000 cassettes of his double album “Class F and Class M’’in 1996.

Using the autobiographical elements of his former marriage to a French woman, popularly known as Maria, Petit Pays composed songs and introduced a mythic character into the love mythology of the Cameroonian society called Maria. A character defined by her elusiveness and the sensuality of all her parts. And overtime Maria has gained grown as a mythic character in the country, virtually everybody has heard about her, but on the other hand, almost nobody can recognize her without the introduction of her former husband (Adolphe Claude Moundi)

Considered by some as an incarnation of the devil and by others as an incarnation of God the father love or hate him, it is impossible to be insensitive or indifferent in Cameroon and in Africa at large at the mention of the name Petit Pays. And once indifference seizes to be presented as a reaction to a man or objects, then we are sure to be witnesses of something great; irrespective of how one may like to define the word “great.”

And am sure my Cameroonian counterparts would agree with me that, there is no way to escape, forget and ignore a man in this country who stands up to say “a Etoudi et a Mvomeka C’est Nioxx.” Finally, In his new album coming this summer, titled ” Renaissance” Petit pays brings a cultural rebirth of his musical career with themes from the 80s through the 90s, based on the reawakening of Makossa love the strengthens till today.

By Siben Gerard

19, August 2018

All Africa Music Awards unveils nominees for 2018 ⁰

The 13-man Jury of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, on Tuesday, unveiled the nominees list for the 2018 edition. The event which held at the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, had officials of the African Union Commission, Jury members and some stakeholders in attendance. The released nominees list covers the five Regional Categories divided into Female and Male categories as follows: Best Female Artiste in Central Africa; Best Male Artiste in Central Africa; Best Female Artiste in Eastern Africa; Best Male Artiste in Eastern Africa; Best Female Artiste in Northern Africa; Best Male Artiste in Northern Africa; Best Female Artiste in Southern Africa; Best Male Artiste in Southern Africa; Best Female Artiste in Western Africa and Best Male Artiste in Western Africa.

A total of 79 songs made it to the Regional nominees list. Cameroon takes up four of the eight spots in the category for Best Female Artiste in Central Africa, followed by DRC (2), and Angola (2). In the category for Best Male Artiste in Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) takes the lead with five spots followed by Cameroon 2 and Chad 1.

From Eastern Africa, the female category Kenya holds three spots while Uganda takes 2 with Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania occupying one nomination slot respectively. In the male category, Kenya and Tanzania maintain three nominations each Tanzania ties with Ethiopia & Tanzania registering one nomination apiece. The Algerian female artistes have a lead ahead of their male counterparts as they took four out of the six spots in the category for Best Female Artiste in Northern Africa, with Tunisia and Egypt holding one spot each.

The Male category has Moroccan artistes occupying four of the eight spots, Algeria 2, Egypt and Tunisia earning one nomination each. The Southern African region is dominated by South African artistes both in the male and female categories, with a total of nine spots, followed by Zimbabwe- 3, while Swaziland, Namibia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe take 1 spot each. The Western region Male category is having great contenders between Nigeria and Ghana. Holding up 4 spots is Nigeria, closely followed by Ghana (3), while Guinea and Cape Verde hold 1 spot each. The Best Female Artiste in the Western region has Nigeria and Ghana in a tie of 2 spots respectively, with Benin (1), Mali (1), Senegal (1), and Cote d’Ivoire (1).

While providing insights into the process by which the entries were reviewed and graded, the spokesperson for the International Jury of AFRIMA and the Programme Director, Cameroon TV and Radio, CRTV, Mr. Robert Ekukole (representing Eastern Africa) explained that tasked with the responsibility of carefully and mindfully sieving through 8,009 entries submitted by African music professionals within the awards validity period of August 1, 2017 to August 1, 2018, “the jury members have no choice but to be thorough and deliberate about their work because we will be doing artistes and creators of these works a great injustice if we don’t accord them the review their works deserves”, “The AFRIMA Nominees list we arrived at reflects and represents the top-notch creative expressions of music talents and professionals within the relevant regions and validity period. However, we also have a challenge where some artistes failed to enter for the awards and as such missed the opportunity to be evaluated or possibly nominated for AFRIMA”.

The AFRIMA adjudication is carried out electronically via the proprietary AFRIMA Adjudication Software, which was designed by AFRIMA in 2014, has been deployed for use since the 2015 annual adjudication process. When public voting opens on the AFRIMA website on Monday, August 27, both continental and regional nominees in the 38 AFRIMA award categories will compete against one another for the coveted 23.9 carat gold-plated AFRIMA Trophy.

Nominees will now depend on votes from their fans and followers spread across the globe to vote for their songs in an open voting process via the AFRIMA website, www.afrima.org From August 7, when the annual adjudication process began, the 13-man AFRIMA Jury worked painstakingly and tirelessly in assessing and grading the submitted entries which was an astronomical increase of 63% against the 2017 entries received by AFRIMA.

Speaking on the parameters considered by the Jury during the adjudication process, Jury member representing Diaspora (North America), Hadja Kobélé Keita, a music executive with work experience in international music companies like Universal Music Africa and Island Africa, reiterated the AFRIMA objective, which is about rewarding and promoting talents and

www.vanguardngr.com

19, August 2018

Antonio Guterres bans journalist from the UN for his reporting on the genocide in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Matthew Lee is a man of single-minded focus. For years, it served him well as an independent journalist covering the United Nations. But for the last several weeks, he’s been banned from UN Headquarters for, according to the UN, going beyond the pale of acceptable behavior for a reporter.

The United Nations on Friday provided Lee with a letter informing him that the ban would be made permanent. The letter, signed by Alison Smale, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, said that Lee’s “conduct has consistently breached” the UN’s media guidelines and “does not meet the established professional standards required of all correspondents granted access to United Nations premises.” As a result, his accreditation to cover the UN has been withdrawn.

“This is censorship pure and simply by [UN Secretary-General] Antonio Guterres who doesn’t like my questions on corruption and Cameroon,” Lee wrote in an email to BuzzFeed News shortly after receiving the letter.

Lee has long taken a different approach to covering the UN than many of his fellow journalists. Last week, many were lauding former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet’s unanimous approval as the new UN high commissioner for human rights. “At UN Guterres Holds Press-less Press Encounter About Bachelet and Human Rights After Sold Out Cameroon,” read the headline on Inner City Press, the website where Lee publishes his reporting.

He’s been covering the United Nations since 2005, and for years was a constant presence in the room where the organization’s spokesperson would brief the press daily. The questions Lee would ask were often esoteric, focusing on issues that were off the news cycle or flying under the radar. The stories he posts are unedited and often extremely discursive, and are generally focused on the nitty-gritty of the way the UN is run, highlighting possible corruption or other alleged malpractice inside the organization.

Lee has constantly tried to push the boundaries of access at the UN, arguing that the business of the UN should be as transparent as possible. That was the case on July 3, when two UN security officers removed Lee from the building. “I said, ‘I’m a journalist what are you doing, I have every right to be here,’ and they said ‘no no no, no you don’t,’” Lee told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview late last month. “So I feel like something is very wrong. Either they knew I had the absolute right to be there and they just didn’t give a damn, or there’s something totally wrong with the UN where they aren’t told what the rules are.”

While Lee was being evicted and escorted off the premises — he livestreamed the end of the encounter on Periscope — his shirt was ripped.

He’s since written several pieces for Inner City Press calling out one of the officers by name, and alleging that he’d been singled out for his reporting on the way the security force operates.

“It was like they saw an opportunity,” he said. He also described the incident as his being “targeted by rogue security.”

Since then, he’s been banned from setting foot in UN Headquarters.

It was the latest in a long line of confrontations and clashes between Lee and the UN’s staffers.

In 2016, Lee was found in a booth in the press briefing room as members of the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA), of which Lee is not a member, were meeting. That incident saw Lee escorted from the building and told he’d lose access to his (notoriously messy) office in the section of the UN reserved for the media.

He’s been what’s called a “nonresident” journalist ever since. That means that unlike the permanent members of the UN press corps, Lee had to sign in and pass through security every day, and, also, leave the building after working hours are done. It was the latter condition that got him in trouble, according to the UN.

The night he was removed from the building, he was spotted outside a meeting after hours, waiting for an open budget meeting to conclude, he says. Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for the UN, told BuzzFeed News the meeting was closed and not open to the public or press. He said and that Lee also attempted to access another off-limits area that evening.

Lee says, however, that his removal was an attempt to keep the workings of the UN from scrutiny.

“On two recent occasions, Mr. Lee violated [the UN’s] Media Guidelines by attempting to access United Nations premises beyond the scope of his non-resident correspondent status and by confrontations with United Nations Security and Safety officials,” a letter from Smale to the Global Accountability Project provided to BuzzFeed News during Lee’s initial suspension read. “While you have characterized these confrontations as being unprovoked, the relevant facts do not support that characterization,” the letter continued.

Smale has been a frequent target of Lee’s vitriol since his ban first kicked off, as have Haq, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Guterres, and Guterres himself.

In an attempt to get back into the building, Lee, who is also a lawyer, filed a complaintwith Guterres that asserts that Smale and Dujarric “engaged in prohibited conduct, including harassment and abuse [sic] authority towards me.” He also urged Smale to recuse herself from the investigation.

The UN’s Department of Public Information and Department of Safety and Security, which led the review, “have been reviewing a number of incidents [related to Lee] over the past two years,” Haq said earlier this month.

It’s “ridiculous that there’s been any efforts to curtail his access,” Haq said. “There’s been times where he’s just declined to understand that doesn’t mean unlimited access.”

While awaiting the final decision, Lee parked at a bus stop on First Avenue, across from the Delegate’s Entrance of the UN, using passing busses for their Wi-Fi. He’s also been working to get his story out, posting nonstop and Periscoping from outside the building in a sort of rolling live shot that he later uploads to YouTube. Last week, he shouted questions at the French mission’s political coordinator about the plight of refugees from Burundi. He was ignored.

Some of Lee’s Periscope videos are less structured than others. In a late-night shot, taken outside Guterres’s residence in early August, he flat-out accused Dujarric of ordering that Lee be “beaten” by the security officers. He has provided no evidence to prove this charge.

In the same video, Lee calls the Department of Public Information “sleazy” and refers to Guterres as “disgusting.” In recent tweets, focused on Cameroon’s lobbying of the UN, he’s added Guterres to the list of people responsible for ordering his ouster. Haq firmly denied that the matter reached up to the Secretary-General’s level.

Culled from BuzzFeedNews

19, August 2018

Boko Haram jihadists kill four farmers in Nigeria ⁰

Four farmers were killed by Boko Haram jihadists outside a key northeast Nigerian city, a militia leader and survivor told AFP on Saturday.

On Friday, around a dozen Boko Haram Islamists riding on motorcycles stormed crop fields near Ali Goshe village, 6km outside the city of Maiduguri, and slit the throats of four farmers.

The attack on civilians comes as the jihadists are launching a surge of assaults against troops in Nigeria, putting the military on the back foot six months before presidential polls.

“So far we have confirmed the death of four people in the attack which happened around midday,” said Ibrahim Liman, who is part of the militia taskforce fighting Boko Haram in the region.

“When the Boko Haram terrorists came the farmers fled but the gunmen managed to grab four and slaughter them.”

Shuaibu Boka, who was among the farmers who escaped, said the jihadists did not shoot in order to avoid attracting the attention of security forces.

“There were dozens of us tending our crops when they came on motorcycles and we all fled in different directions,” Boka said.

“When we returned much later after the gunmen were gone, we found four of our men slaughtered,” he said, adding that the jihadists had killed the 75-year-old head of the community.

Boko Haram’s nine-year quest to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria has killed over 20,000 people and displaced some 2.6 million from their homes, triggering a dire humanitarian crisis in the remote Lake Chad region.

The majority of the displaced people used to be subsistence farmers, but because of the ongoing violence they can no longer tend to their fields and rely on food handouts from aid agencies to survive.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Friday it was providing emergency help after 33 children died of malnutrition, diarrhoea and malaria over the span of two weeks in Bama, a camp housing people displaced by the insurgency.

Agriculture in the region has been decimated by almost a decade of conflict, with locals unable to sow or cultivate crops and jihadists raiding grain stores.

But farmers have been forced to try to resume their work in areas where the military has restored relative peace to help alleviate chronic food shortages.

Boko Haram jihadists have been targeting loggers and peasant farmers, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militia fighting them.

Source: News 24