UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-West Africa Update 198, 98.4.30

IRIN-West Africa Update 198, 98.4.30


U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa

Tel: +225 21-73-54 Fax: +225 21-63-35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci

IRIN-WA Update 198 of Events in West Africa, (Thursday) 30 April 1998

NIGERIA: Prisoners to be released

Nigerian newspapers said on Thursday that the military government had ordered the release of some 120 prisoners, news sources reported. The government-owned 'New Nigerian' newspaper said as many as 140 were to be released. David Attah, chief press secretary of military ruler General Sani Abacha, told Reuters a number of detainees had already been freed but could not confirm how many or provide a list of names. Attah said: "It is an ongoing thing -- as cases are reviewed, if there is no sufficient ground, why hold them?" He denied the releases were prompted by international pressure on Abacha, saying: "We don't do it because we are being prodded to do so.. We do so because it is right and proper." Three journalists and civil rights activist Ogaga Ifawodo were among those released last week, the BBC added. The releases come five months after Abacha's 17 November promise to free detainees who no longer pose a security risk and a month after Pope John Paul's visit, when he asked for clemency for 60 detainees whose names were not published.

According to the 'New Nigerian' and the independent 'Guardian' newspaper, quoted by AFP, those selected for released are detainees serving life sentences who have reached the age of 60, those who have been in custody for more than 10 years, and a large number of journalists and others who have already served time awaiting trial.

Opposition calls for May Day protest

A statement by the Nigerian United Action for Democracy (UAD), a coalition of 26 pro-democracy and human rights bodies, said Wednesday that Friday's May Day protest against Abacha would go ahead as planned. The protests are expected to take place in several centres, in particular Lagos/Ibadan, Abuja, Kaduna, Port Harcourt/Yenagoa, Enugu/Nsukka and Ilorin. UAD called on Nigerians to turn out in force, shops to close and vehicles to keep off the streets on Friday, AFP reported.

A previous UAD protest earlier this month in the southwestern city of Ibadan left three people dead following clashes between pro- and anti-Abacha demonstrators.

US denounces coup trial

The US on Wednesday denounced the special military tribunal's death sentences handed out on Tuesday to General Oladipo Diya and five others for plotting an alleged coup in 1997 and called for a swift review of the decision, AFP reported, quoting White House spokesman Michael McCurry.

Writers' association protests

The PEN English Centre, a branch of the international association of writers, held a demonstration on Tuesday at the Nigerian High Commission in London to protest against the "arbitrary detention and harassment of Nigerian writers and journalists", Nigerian 'News du Jour' reported. The group said four Nigerian journalists, Kunle Ajibade, Chis Anyanwu, George Mba and Ben Charles Obi, jailed for complicity in an alleged 1995 coup plot, have been adopted as PEN honorary members.

Shell operations shut down

Royal Dutch Shell Corporation said on Wednesday that five flow stations transporting 50,000 barrels per day had been shut down by angry villagers, Reuters reported. Villagers shut the Niger River Delta flow stations on Tuesday, saying that government had not met all their requests for amenities, Shell spokesman Albert Aramabi told Reuters. "We have opened negotiations with the villagers, but as long as these people are still faced with employment problems we will continue to have this problem on our hands," he added. He said the closure had no effect on oil exports.

According to Reuters, Shell accounts for more than 95 percent of Nigeria's export income. Most of Shell's operations are onshore, unlike Nigeria's other major oil producers, making it more vulnerable to attacks by disgruntled oil communities.

SIERRA LEONE: 100 junta supporters killed in clashes

Some 100 supporters of the ousted junta were killed in clashes in Kailahun district, eastern Sierra Leone, AFP reported, quoting the pro-government 'Freedom Now' newspaper. According to the paper, the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) said the junta supporters were killed at the weekend in an hour-long battle with militia forces under the command of the West African intervention force, ECOMOG. The paper also reported that Kamajor militiamen had sealed a key ferry route in the area to prevent junta leader Major Johnny Paul Koroma from reaching Kailahun district. It added that Guinean ECOMOG troops were also near Kailahun district "to flush out remaining junta forces".

Meanwhile, state radio in Freetown reported Thursday that Guinea had shut its border with Sierra Leone to stop junta remnants from crossing with the fleeing refugees, AFP said. But a humanitarian source told IRIN the border was regularly closed and re-opened, adding radio announcements were not always followed by any action on the ground.

According to AFP, quoting Sierra Leone state radio, the Guinean government also said it would turn over some 100 suspected junta supporters to the Sierra Leone government. There was no independent confirmation of this announcement.

LIBERIA: Defence Ministry denies Sierra Leone involvement

The Defence Ministry has again denied allegations of Liberia's involvement in the Sierra Leone crisis, Star Radio reported. Defence Minister Daniel Chea said the arrest of any Liberian for fighting in Sierra Leone did not mean that such action was sanctioned by the government. The Nigerian defence ministry alleged earlier this week that Liberians were fighting side by side with retreating Sierra Leone junta forces.

Officers arrested for WFP food seizure

Five security officers, including two soldiers were arrested for seizing a consignment of WFP relief food in Bomi County, Star Radio reported Thursday. The Minister of Defence said the accused would be tried by the Court Martial Board and more arrests were expected. The consignment, which was seized last week, was destined for internally displaced people in Tewor District, Grand Cape Mount County.

MALI: Opposition to boycott municipal elections

Local elections in 19 Malian municipalities are scheduled for 21 June while the new 682 municipalities created under the 1997 decentralisation process will hold elections on 29 November, AFP reported, quoting an official source. The radical opposition Collectif des partis politiques de l'opposition (COPPO) has tried to scuttle the decentralisation process, refusing to recognise institutional changes made by President Alpha Oumar Konare, whose 1997 re-election they do not recognise. Municipal elections have been delayed three times to allow time to resolve the current political crisis. However, recent mediation attempts by the US-based Carter Centre were rejected by COPPO, which said it would boycott the elections.

NIGER: Stations allege censorship

Two private FM radio stations said on Thursday they had received "instructions" not to broadcast information and statements deemed likely to heighten political tension in Niger, AFP reported. Radio "R et M" apologised to its listeners for the imposed censorship. Neither station revealed the source of the "instructions". A third station, "Tenere", however, made no mention of similar instructions in its bulletins. Over recent days, the Conseil Superieur de la Communication (CSC) has warned the national press against spreading "inflammatory and partisan statements". A human rights and trade union grouping has also criticised some journalists for political bias, particularly on foreign radios.

Tension has been high since 12 April, when the opposition Front de restauration et de defense de la democratie (FRDD) called for nationwide protests to demand the resignation of Nigerien President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara.

Abidjan, 30 April 1998, 20:00 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: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 20:03:38 +0000 (GMT) Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 198, 98.4.30 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980430200207.31968A-p://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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