£3,000 UK Visa Deposit: FG, Reps kick against new policy

By Vicoria Ojeme

ABUJA— The Federal Government, yesterday, vowed to defend the interests of Nigerians, following the introduction of a new visa policy by the British government. The policy requires Nigerians travelling to the United Kingdom to produce a cash bond of N730,000 (3,000 pounds, $4,600 or 3,500 euros) before they enter the UK.

The Sunday Times newspaper had reported that visitors from Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ghana whose nationals are deemed to pose a “high risk” of immigration abuse will be required to produce the bond which they will forfeit if they overstay in Britain after their visas have expired.

Reacting, yesterday, while rendering account of his stewardship at the Radio House in Abuja, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru, said the Federal Government was yet to receive any official communication from the UK government.

“We have received no official communication from the UK government. When we receive communication from them, we will study whatever proposal they bring and know what to do.

“But I can assure all Nigerians that the Jonathan government will defend the interest of Nigerians by whatever means we can. So, when we get their proposal, we will study it and we will see how we can guide the ordinary Nigerians,” Ashiru said.

UK Visa bond unacceptable —House Committee

House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, has also condemned the new British visa policy, saying it is discriminatory and unacceptable. Chairman of the committee, Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje, in a statement issued in Abuja, said such policy was not in the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.

“This is totally discriminatory and unacceptable. It is targeted at non-white Commonwealth”, she said.
Ukeje (PDP-Abia) said as a Committee on Foreign Affairs, the House of Representatives would take a critical look at the policy as it affects Nigerians and come up with a way forward.

According to her, “they should realise that it is not in the best interest of UK. We will, as a country, look at it vis-a- vis our citizens and come up with a decision. We agree totally with the UK Foreign Minister that the policy is totally unworkable and impractical.

It is contrary to the commitment made to our President by David Cameron during their last meeting. We believe it is for political reason ahead of general election. We seek that our long historical relationship should take precedence over political expediency,” Ukeje advised.

The pilot scheme of the new visa policy is scheduled to commence in November. According to the Sunday Times, the controversial move by the UK home secretary, Theresa May, to introduce the Australian-style system reflects her determination to show that the Conservatives are serious about cutting immigration into the UK .

Ms May said: “This is the next step in making sure our immigration system is more selective, bringing down net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands, while still welcoming the brightest and the best to Britain .”

She added: “In the long run we’re interested in a system of bonds that deters overstaying and recovers costs if a foreign national has used our public services.” The Home Office is targeting countries which have high volumes of visitor visa applications and what it deems to be relatively high levels of fraud and abuse.

Lagos: Police Kill Suspected Kidnappers of Ejigbo Local Government Chairman

By Ayodeji Dedeigbo

The Lagos State Special Anti-robbery Squad has killed seven suspected kidnappers and arrested two others during a cross fire in Agbara area of Ogun State, southwest Nigeria. Police alleged that the suspects were behind the kidnap of Lagos politician Kehinde Bamigbetan, Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area in Lagos State, southwest Nigeria.

Police said the arrested suspects are 27-year old Ogbonna Emenike and 25-year old Uchenna Nwanyu. The shootout took place at the weekend. The items recovered from the suspects include four AK 47 Rifles, twenty-Eight AK 47 Magazine fully loaded and a thousand round of live ammunition. Others are army uniforms, a Honda CRV jeep with Reg

No.ABC106AE and a Nissan Pathfinder Reg No.AGL730AZ as well as local charms. The officer in charge of SARS said: “when I received the information about their hideout in Agbara in Ogun State, I quickly mobilised my men to their camp where they lodged.

“After 72hours of waiting in ambush, I and my squadron team stormed the place where all the kidnappers have gathered around 6.30 am on 24/06/2013. “As a result of this,seven of the kidnappers were fatally wounded during a heavy gun battle between the kidnappers and my men.

“Two of the kidnappers one Ogbonna Emenike and Uchenna Nnwayu were arrested alive with bullet wound. “Also an Indian National one Mr. Vivex Changrani who was kidnapped in Ikoyi,at about 12.am was also rescued successfully in the kidnappers hideout.”

The Lagos State commissioner of Police Mr. Umar Abubakar Manko warned other kidnappers to flee Lagos. “Criminals will not have comfort in Lagos. Lagos is not a comfort zone. My advice (for criminals) is to go away from Lagos,” Manko said.

Bamigbetan was kidnapped in April by unidentified gunmen while he was about to enter his street, Ona Iwa Mimo, Ori-Oke near Egbe bridge in Ejigbo. He was with his driver, Abiodun Olayiwola, in his black SUV with customised registration number Lagos KOK when the gunmen waylaid him.

The council boss was said to be on his way home from an official assignment when the incident occurred. His SUV was badly damaged by an electric pole which stopped it while the driver tried to escape from the gunmen.

West African Leaders Call for the Presence of Multinational Naval Force for Maritime Security

West African leaders seem to be waking up from slumber but as usual, almost powerless to walk out of bed alone without external supports. The leaders held maritime security summit in Cameroon due to the growing cases of piracy in the resource-rich Gulf of Guinea.

Member states of Economic Community of West African States and Economic Community of East African States took part in the summit held in Yaounde. The participating states signed a Memorandum of Agreement on joint prevention and repression of illegal activities in the gulf which will establish a concrete basis for the two regional blocs to share intelligence, conduct joint patrols and jointly repress piracy in their maritime domain.

The Memorandum of Agreement among ECOWAS, ECCAS and the Gulf of Guinea Commission on Maritime Safety and Security in West and Central Africa is the policy statements of the heads of state and government on maritime safety and security; as well as a Code of Conduct on the fight against piracy, armed robbery and illegal maritime activities.

President Alassane Ouattara of Cote D'Ivoire stated that a multinational naval force is needed to curb and stem the tide of the rising activities of pirates in the Gulf of Guinea which have overtaken that of the coast of Somalia. In 2012, 960 maritime personnels were abducted in the Gulf of Guinea compared to 861 off the Somali coast.

Weah, Mboma, Okocha, Domoraud and Milla Play for Peace in Liberia

Liberia was the home of some of Africa's most troublesome wars years ago; the wars took the lives of thousands and paralised all activities in the West African nation. Two bloody wars were fought almost concurrently spilling over into Sierra Leone. Charles Taylor, who was the arrow-head of the wars is facing trial at the Hague.

The First Liberian Civil War was an internal conflict in Liberia from 1989 until 1996. The conflict killed over 200,000 people and eventually led to the involvement of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and of the United Nations. The peace did not last long, and in 1999 the Second Liberian Civil War broke out.

After the exit of Charles Taylor and election conducted in which Nigeria under President Olusegun Obasanjo played a crucial role in seeing to its peaceful outcome and resolution of all grievances, George Weah who also contested but lost controversially to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became a peace ambassador of Liberia.

Weah, who was recently chosen to be Liberia’s Peace Ambassador, invited Cameroonians Roger Milla and Patrick Mboma, JJ Okocha of Nigeria and Cyril Domoraud of Ivory Coast for a glittering exhibition match in the capital Monrovia on Saturday.

“I know my job is very difficult but I want you all… to join me in sending the message of peace to our people. My appeal to you all is to help me achieve peace,” Weah said as he launched a campaign for post-war reconcilation.

Thousands of Liberians enjoyed a display of skill put on by the veterans before Weah presented his Ballon d’Or — which he was awarded for being European Footballer of the Year in 1995 — to the people of Liberia.

Deep psychological and physical wounds remain in Liberia after two back-to-back civil wars which ran from 1989 to 2003 and left a quarter of a million people dead. His major mission is to bring lasting peace back to his beloved country.

China's Sinopec buys Marathon's Angola oil fields for $1.52 billion

China's Sinopec Group has agreed to buy Marathon Oil Corp's, Angolan offshore oil and gas field for $1.52 billion, Asia's largest refiner producer said.

It is no news that China is moving rapidly to capture the 'African Continent' if possible and if permitted. The main need of China is in line with that of Washington; oil and energy.

Beijing Consensus has every semblance with Washington Consensus in terms of quest for resources and wider outreach to source for them. Africa is their central point of focus.

Sonangal Sinopec International Ltd, the group's subsidiary, will acquire Houston-based Marathon's 10 percent stake on the Angolan field called Block 31, it said in a statement.

China's oil majors has been on an aggressive hunt for overseas assets to bulk up their energy reserves to meet future demand from the world's second-largest economy.

According to Reuters, CNPC agreed in March to buy a $4.2-billion stake in a Mozambique offshore natural gas field and on Friday agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in Novatek's (NVTK.MM) $20-billion Yamal-LNG project in northwest Siberia.

The Angolan Block 31 field, operated by BP (BP.L), has estimated proved and probable reserves of 533 million barrels, Sinopec said, adding that it would hold a stake of 15 percent in the block when the transaction was completed.

The $1.52 billion due to be paid by Sinopec is part of a $3-billion asset disposal target set by Marathon in 2011 to shore up its balance sheet to fund further exploration and development projects.

Angola is moving rapidly in oil production, rivaling the African oil giant, Nigeria especially when the Niger-Delta crisis was on. Portugal, her former colonial master is also relying on Angola and its investments, centrally with and after the world financial downturn.

The deal is subject to approval by the Chinese and Angolan governments.

China Slams the US; Amnesty International says Snowden Commits no Crime

China has taken a swipe at the US over its allegations that Beijing allowed NSA leaker Edward Snowden to leave Hong Kong. The spokesperson for the Chinese Communist Party said  the US has gone from ‘model of human rights’ to manipulator of internet rights.

The damning article in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily, the party’s official newspaper, came in response to Washington’s accusations of the “deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant.”

Addressing Washington’s allegations, the People’s Daily wrote that China could not accept "this kind of dissatisfaction and opposition.”

"Not only did the US authorities not give us an explanation and apology, it instead expressed dissatisfaction at the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for handling things in accordance with the law,” wrote Wang Xinjun, a researcher at the Academy of Military Science in the People's Daily commentary.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying also denounced the US accusations as "groundless and unacceptable.”

"It is unreasonable for the US to question Hong Kong's handling of affairs in accordance with law, and the accusation against the Chinese central government is groundless," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

The Hong Kong government released an official statement on Sunday, saying that US fugitive Edward Snowden had left the Chinese territory for Moscow legally and voluntarily. The statement also mentioned that the extradition documents submitted by the US on charges of espionage were not sufficient to warrant Snowden’s arrest under Chinese law.

The column praises the former CIA contractor for “his fearlessness that tore off Washington's sanctimonious mask."Snowden has been branded by the US as ‘traitor’ by US politicians for the leaking of classified documents to The Guardian newspaper that revealed the existence of the spy programme Prism.  

"In a sense, the United States has gone from a model of human rights to an eavesdropper on personal privacy, the manipulator of the centralised power over the international internet, and the mad invader of other countries' networks," the People's Daily said.

The case of Edward Snowden has captivated world media since he fled from the US in May. Although the fugitive’s whereabouts are unknown, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange confirmed to Russia Today that Snowden was en route to Ecuador via Moscow accompanied by WikiLeaks legal representative Sarah Harrison.

The whistleblower has applied for asylum in Ecuador and the country’s government confirmed that it is processing the application.

The US has called on all countries in the northern hemisphere to surrender Snowden to US jurisdiction and has resolved to seek cooperation from his destination country. However human rights organisation Amnesty International has launched an appeal, urging the US not to prosecute anyone who discloses data on US government human right violations.

"No one should be charged under any law for disclosing information of human rights violations by the US government. Such disclosures are protected under the rights to information and freedom of expression," said Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International.

In addition, the organization also stressed that an individual who has an asylum bid underway cannot legally be extradited.