BBC Africa

Switzerland Kills Another Nigerian..!

/ Adeola / 9 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

In 2007 Spain killed Osamuyia Aikpitanhi as he was about to be deported. There was an outrage by Nigerians Worldwide.

Since then we have read about other Nigerians killed in Russia, China and possibly other places.

The news on friday that Switzerland has committed one more murder by killing another Nigerian is disheartening.

Why do European Police have to killed asylum seekers set for deportation?

Is it not enough to arrest them and put them on the flight back home?

Why do they have to use extreme measures like covering their faces and tying them up like animals just because they want to deport them? Seriously even animal right groups would protest if animals are treated like that.

But these are the things they do to Nigerians and other immigrants on deportation list-they tie them up and often they inject them with poisonous substances!

Switzerland should be ashamed of itself for this murder!

The Nigerian embassy in Switzerland should take up this issue very seriously. The policeman or woman who committed this crime should be dismissed with immediate effect and place on trial.

If they consider it a state murder the government of Switzerland should tender an unreserved apology to the family of the victim and to the government of Nigeria. The government of Switzerland must take measures to stop these state murders as this is not the first time. One hopes that this will be the last.

I do not in any way encourage illegal migration of Nigerians to Switzerland but I strongly believe that the human right conventions should be allowed to take its course when there are violations. Invariably there are no provisions that asylum seekers should be killed.

I do not also encourage Nigerians who are involved in drug traficking in-and-out of Switzerland. In that case the law should take its course. I am also sure that Switzerland would not have instructed its law enforcement agents to be agents of state murders in that case. No one should act above the law.

After all is said and done, we should never forget all these events. We must take measures that will promote the rights and privileges of the ordinary citizens regardless of whether they are legal or illegal immigrants. Life has no duplicate and the dignity of all must be respected.

Back home in Nigeria the government must do all it can to improve the economic and political situations. We owe it to ourselves as Nigerians to develop our domain, our country and our motherland. No one will do it for us.

We must do these things to encourage Nigerians to return home and to reduce the urge of desperate migration flow to Europe and other places.

In this particular case, some of us are watching and waiting for Justice.

May the soul of the departed find peace!

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Story from BBC, Friday 19th March

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8576085.stm

Switzerland has halted special flights to deport asylum seekers after a Nigerian man on hunger strike died on the tarmac at Zurich airport.

Swiss police say they had shackled the 29-year-old man, who was being forcibly deported along with 15 other Nigerians whose asylum bids had been rejected.

When he fell ill on Wednesday the police took off his shackles and a doctor tried in vain to revive him.

Swiss authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.

Police said they had shackled the man because he had resisted deportation.

Two Nigerian witnesses quoted by the Swissinfo news website accused the police of inhumane treatment.

“They treated us like animals,” said one, called Emmanuel.

“They shackled our feet, knees, hands, hips, arms and torso and made us wear a helmet like those worn by boxers. It was simply impossible to move,” he said.

The man who died was a drug-dealer who had been on hunger strike for several days.

It is the third such death in Switzerland since 1999.

Last year there were 43 special repatriation flights from Switzerland, deporting some 360 people, mostly to the Balkans or Africa, Swissinfo reports.

The Jos Massacre: When Religion and Politics Blend

/ Adeola / 4 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

ONE of the most disturbing issues in the unification of Nigeria is religion. The North of Nigeria is dominated by Muslims and the south by Christians. But Muslims and Christians spread considerably well across the length and breadth of Nigeria. In my own family for instance we have both Christians and Muslims. My family is well educated and there is no doubts that we know what religion is and how to tolerate one another.

But how does one deal with thugs and illiterates who do not understand the views of other people on religious matters? It is a difficult situation indeed and in Nigeria the politicians over the years have continued to blend politics and religion. For instance, the constitution of Nigeria does not apply in every state in Nigeria. Yet some people are saying that Nigeria is one country. That is far from the truth, the only thing that is keeping Nigeria as one country is the crude oil from the Niger Delta.

In Northern Nigeria, the sharia law has been imposed on the population during the disastrous regime of Obasanjo. So depending on where you are in that geographical entities, different laws apply and your life style can change considerably. The ugly truth though is that the politicians have instituted the law for their own selfish gains.

In Jos-Nigeria, hundreds of people may have lost their lives because of an election that took the dimension of religious inclination. You can imagine that ignorance remains a weapon that has been used to send innocent people to their early graves. The perpetrators of these evil acts will never be found. They will never be brought to book. In Nigeria, this type of killing usually comes with the backings of some wicked politicians. The perpetrators enjoy privileged protection or anonymity and they will be unleashed again to do the same harm in the future. This is why religious riots or political riots associated with religion remains recurring incidents in Nigeria.

One of the reasons why this type of nonsense happens in Nigeria is because the politicians are thieves. Who would fight or kill in the name of service to the people? Politics in Nigeria is a winner takes all game. The winner steals and loots the treasury while the losers lick their wounds. If someone or a politician would pay or go to jail for stealing or for looting, I do not think there will be this mad rush to government houses across Nigeria. It is not an easy thing to serve. You need skills, you need knowledge and you need to be tolerant to a lot of things. You will persevere.

This is not the case in Plateau State where some idiots and fools have been killing other people because of election results. This is in fact not the case anywhere in Nigeria where the reason for politics is to steal and oppress the people.

In 2007, Yar Adua was forcefully imposed on Nigerians in what has been adjudged as the worst election in human history. If the president is occupying a position illegally, what do we expect from the other subordinate positions across the country? If the head is rotten, what part of the body can be whole? Nigerians are shying away from the truth and the consequences and repercussions will continue to be grave.

If the anomaly of April 2007 and the anomalies since 1914 and 1960 are not rectified, Nigeria will not make progress and these types of pockets of violence will continue to make the citizens to live in panic and fear.

More and more Nigerians are sliding below the poverty level while only a privileged few continue to enjoy abundant wealth. Corruption continues to eat deep into the fabrics of governance. The present illegal government continues to shade the likes of Ibori who used the stolen wealth of Delta State to bundle Yar Adua to Aso rock. This type of obvious evil acts will continue to deny this country of progress and the insincere search for prosperity will continue to be abstract-resulting in self-enrichment of the politicians and a few selected people. Nigeria today is definitely not for all Nigerians.

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Eye witness account: On BBC Africa