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IRIN-WA Update 113-97 of Events in West Africa, (Tuesday) 30 December 1997
[As a supplement to its weekly round-ups of main events in West Africa, IRIN-WA will produce a daily synopsis of reports on the region. IRIN issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian community but accepts no responsibility as to the accuracy of the original source.]
NIGERIA: More arrests in connection with foiled coup
Defence ministry spokesman Godwin Ugbo announced on Monday that more arrests had been made in connection with the coup plot, Nigerian state radio reported. No details were given on the identity of those arrested. The Nigerian government announced on 21 December the arrest of 11 military officers and a civilian in connection with the alleged attempt to overthrow General Sani Abacha's government.
Abacha says coup plot most unfortunate
On Monday, Abacha described the plot as "capable of undermining and subverting" all what could be achieved within and outside the country, Nigerian television reported.
Ogoni movement says torture used by special squads
Meanwhile, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) issued a statement on Monday disclosing that its people were allegedly subject to torture, the opposition Radio Kudirat reported. A special torture squad had in the last few days "arrested and brutally treated" some 20 people from Ogoniland. On 4 January the southeastern territory will commemorate its struggle for its rights. MOSOP called on the international community to compel the Nigerian government "to withdraw its army of occupation from Ogoniland".
Football team will not play "hostile" countries
A Nigerian Football Association (NFA) spokesman on Monday said that Nigeria would turn down any request to play a friendly match ahead of the World Cup if it came from "hostile country", Reuters said. It said that sports minister Emeka Omeruah had issued a directive instructing the NFA not to approach such "enemies". It was also instructed to turn down all such requests from these countries, none of which were identified. He added that Nigeria would play in next month's four-nation tournament in Hong Kong. Nigeria has come under heavy criticism from Western countries for its poor human records and slow pace of democratic reform.
MALI: Political meeting of former Congolese dignataries banned
A political meeting to have been attended on Monday
by former Congolese ministers and dignitaries in ousted
President Pascal Lissouba's toppled government was
banned by the Malian authorities, AFP reported. A senior
foreign affairs official said that his country would
not be used as a "base" to destablise Congo-Brazzaville.
Participants arrived in the capital, Bamako, on Saturday,
from Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. AFP quoted a former Congolese
official as saying that the meeting was to finetune
a strategy to counteract the national conference planned
by Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso.
BENIN: Presidential address
President Mathieu Kerekou of Benin promised in a state-of-the-nation address on Monday that his government would address concerns of the country's labour unions, AFP reported.
He said that he was concerned about the recent series of 72-hour strikes called to protest the government's Structural Adjustment Programme. Unions claimed the programme was eroding employees' benefits and demanded the payment of "salary arrears" dating back to 1992. Kerekou also noted that inflation had dropped from 54 percent in 1994 to less than 3 percent in 1997.
New newspaper opens
A new daily newspaper, 'La Voix', was launched in Conakry
on Tuesday, marking what its editor called a "supplementary
element in the edifice of credible democracy",
AFP reported. The publication of 'La Voix', edited
by Celestion Abissi, brings to eight the number of
dailies in the country.
CAMEROON: Prison amnesties
President Paul Biya of Cameroon at the weekend issued a decree granting a wide range of amnesties to prisoners, AFP reported. They included the unconditional release of everyone currently serving a prison term of less than one year. He also reduced the country's life-imprisonment term to a maximum 20 years.
People behind bars for "economic crimes" and those sentenced by military tribunals were excluded from the amnesty. He also refused to amnesty anyone serving sentences for murder, assassination and armed robbery.
GHANA: Rawlings warns on corruption
Ghana's President Jerry Rawlings issued a warning against corruption in the country on Monday, AFP reported. Speaking at a gospel music festival, Rawlings blamed other African nationals who had "used foul means" to get Ghanaian passports for tarnishing Ghana's reputation abroad. "It is painful to read in foreign papers about the depth of corruption," he said. Rawlings warned he would not tolerate any corruption irrespective of who carried it out. London-based Control Risks ranked Ghana as the sixth most corrupt out of 40 developing countries last month.
SENEGAL: Record rice harvest threatened by cheap imports
A rice harvest in the Senegal River valley described as "abundant and excellent" has been compromised by cheap imports from India, the government daily, 'Le Soleil', reported on Monday. It said the Indian rice was going for prices up to a third cheaper per kilogramme on the local market than the Senegalese rice. Aldiouma Dieye, president of the Union Departementale des Cooperative Agricoles, the paper said, appealed to the government to stop what he called "fraudlent" imports. He called for a ban on the imports covering the months of December, January and February. The valley's paddy production for January 1998 was put 60,000 MT.
LIBERIA: Displaced people return to Grand Gedeh
Some 220 Liberians displaced from the southeast of the country left Monrovia for home this week, media sources reported on Tuesday. According to the sources, the displaced people had not been back since the Liberian civil war started in 1990. "We requested the repatriation because we are tired of living in dilapidated buildings and warehouses" in Monrovia, said a spokesman for the group, Johnson Krah, according to AFP.
The European Union (EU) told IRIN on Tuesday that trucks supplied by the EU had taken the refugees home on Tuesday. "We hope to expand this operation further in the new year," the EU said.
GUINEA: Newspaper group closure was "routine operation"
The Guinean government said on Monday that Friday's closure of two independent newspaper groups was a "routine operation", AFP reported. Speaking in a nationwide broadcast, Security Minister M. Koureissy Conde said officials seized materials from the papers for "investigative purposes" related to public security. The materials were returned to their owners on Monday. The operation did not constitute a curb on press rights in Guinea, the minister added.
Last week, the Ivorian editor of one of the closed newspaper groups was expelled from the country. A Guinean BBC and Reuters correspondant also has been detained without charge since 23 October.
Abidjan, 30 December, 1997 17:30 gmt
[ends]
[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN West Africa, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN-WA Tel: +225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci for more information or subscription. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this report, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports are archived on the Web at: http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@dha.unon.org . Mailing list: irin-wa-updates]
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1997 17:47:14 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 113-97, 97.12.30 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971230174324.7648A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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