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IRIN-WA Update 230 of Events in West Africa, (Tuesday) 16 June 1998
NIGERIA: Nine political detainees released
New Nigerian leader, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, on Monday ordered the immediate release of nine political detainees, including former Nigerian head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo. Nike Ransome-Kuti, the daughter of another politician released, Beko Ransome-Kuti, told IRIN on Tuesday that the release of the detainees was "a step in the right direction" by the new military regime.
A presidential decree quoted by Radio Nigeria said the release of these detainees was intended "to facilitate the process of national reconciliation, reconstruction and the successful completion of the socio-political transition programme".
Abubakar said he also hoped the freed detainees would "reciprocate this gesture" by cooperating with the government to carry the political transition programme to a logical conclusion. He also asked Nigerians living in exile to return home to "contribute their quota" to the process of national reconstruction and development. He reiterated a call on the international community to show "greater understanding and sensitivity to our internal problems". He said the cases of other politician detainees and prisoners would be given "due consideration from time to time".
According to news agencies, Obasanjo was released on compassionate grounds and would initially be under house arrest. Chris Anyanwu, a well-known journalist, and Ransome-Kuti, a human rights activist, were released on health grounds. Both were sentenced over the same alleged coup plot in 1995 as Obasanjo. Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, deposed Sultan of Sokoto, would reside in Kaduna in northern Nigeria, and would not be allowed to visit the Sultanate of Sokoto. The Sultan of Sokoto is a key traditional power-broker in northern Nigeria. Other detainees released included Chief Olabiyi Durojayi and Chief Bola Ige of the opposition pro-democracy National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Frank Kokori and Nelson Dabidi, officials of a Nigerian oil workers' union, and Owen Udah.
The Lagos state administrator, Colonel Mohammed Marwa, also directed the state attorney-general to drop charges and release those arrested at a rally on 12 June marking the fifth anniversary of the annulment of elections, Nigerian television reported. Marwa said the rally had been illegal since no police permission had been sought.
Local reaction to release
Nike Ransome-Kuti, a pro-democracy activist in her own right, while welcoming the releases, added that the move should be taken with "a pinch of salt" since opposition groups expected that political detainees would be used as "bargaining chips" by those in power.
She said short of releasing Moshood Abiola and handing over the government to him, opposition groups would remain "dissatisfied". Abiola was widely believed to have won the 1993 presidential elections annulled by the then military government.
She added that her father had not been released by Tuesday afternoon because the appropriate paperwork still had to be sent from the presidency to the prison authorities.
Meanwhile, news agencies reported that veteran opposition leader Chief Gani Fawehinmi expressed delight at the decision. But he also demanded the release of all political detainees, including Abiola. The US-based NGO, the Free Nigeria Movement (FNM), said it viewed the release as a "tactic" by Abubakar to confer legitimacy to its government. In a related development, the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN club called for the immediate release of all writers and journalists in Nigeria. It urged that all charges against Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka be dropped, paving the way for his return. Soyinka was charged with treason by the Abacha regime.
US welcomes release of detainees
The White House welcomed the release of the nine political prisoners on Monday, saying that it hoped it would help lead to civilian rule, news agencies reported. White House spokesman P.J. Crowley added that the releases were viewed as a very "positive development" and applauded the decision by the Nigerian leadership.
GUINEA BISSAU: Much of capital destroyed
Much of Guinea Bissau's capital, Bissau, has been destroyed
in a military showdown between army rebels and troops
loyal to President Joao Bernardo Vieira, media reports
said on Tuesday. In over a week of shelling by both
sides, the main hospital, the finance ministry and
the deserted American and Swedish embassies have been
largely destroyed after taking direct hits.
The BBC and Reuters reported that at least 100,000 people were now on the run from the burning city, where supplies of food and water had dwindled. According to the Portuguese news agency Lusa, the city which once had a population of 300,000, was all but deserted. Within 24 hours after the departure on Sunday of the American ambassador, Peggy Blackford, the embassy near the rebel stronghold of Bra overlooking the city was razed when a shell hit a fuel supply depot in the embassy compound.
The fighting broke out on 7 June, when soldiers led by dismissed armed forces chief, Ansumane Mane, revolted against the Vieira government. Although neither side has released any casualty figures, eyewitnesses among the hundreds of foreigners evacuated in recent days spoke of scores of bodies lying amid the ruins of the city built during the Portuguese colonial period, media reports said.
Both sides deadlocked
"The army revolt has not been put down despite the significant numbers of Senegalese and Guinean (Conakry) troops," the Portuguese daily, 'Publico', said on Tuesday. It said that despite Senegalese army claims that they had retaken the Bra rebel stronghold for the Vieira government, there was still resistance. The newspaper said a plane was scheduled to leave Portugal with 30 mt of emergency food supplies, but that it would probably land in Cape Verde with its cargo to be dispatched by sea once the situation is deemed safe enough.
A Portuguese navy frigate is expected in Bissau to evacuate those who have taken refuge in the Portugese embassy and cultural centre, 'Publico' added. It said the French and Portuguese embassies were the only foreign missions still open in Bissau. The BBC quoted "credible eyewitnesses recently in Bissau" as saying most of the army was on the side of the rebel general and that the Senegalese army would thus have "a very difficult job" taking the whole city.
SIERRA LEONE: Former president denies involvement in coup
Former Sierra Leonean President Joseph Momoh on Monday rejected accusations that he was involved in the May 1997 coup that ousted democratically-elected leader Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, AFP reported. In a statement read to a Freetown high court, Momoh was quoted as saying that he had "condemned" the coup at the time and was "hard put" in conceiving that anything would augur well in the alliance between the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) which toppled Kabbah.
Momoh acknowledged having met with AFRC leader Johnny Paul Koroma several times, but claimed he continuously stressed to Koroma the suffering of people and that a military solution was not an answer to the political impasse in Sierra Leone. Momoh has been accused of collaborating with the AFRC regime.
GHANA: Forests under threat
The Ghanaian forests are being eroded at an alarming rate by logging companies, cocoa farmers and illegal gold miners, AFP reported on Monday, quoting the daily 'Daily Graphic'. It said six of the 25 protected forests in the Western region of Ghana have been destroyed, while the remaining 29 were under threat. Forestry Department Task Force Manager Kwadwo Boateng, quoted by AFP, said immature cocoa trees in the reserves were being cut down and replaced with other trees as part of measures to reclaim the reserves. According to the 'Daily Graphic', 10 farmers had already been jailed. Boateng added that traditional chiefs who illegally sold portions of the reserves to farmers should "desist" from the practice or face the full extent of the law.
NIGER: Thirty people killed in mining accident
At least thirty people were killed on Sunday in an accident at a gold mine in the Torodi region, southwest of the capital, Niamey, the BBC reported, quoting Niger state radio. Reports indicated that heavy rains caused a wall to collapse underground. Nigerien President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara visited the scene of the accident and ordered the site to remain closed until the end of the rainy season.
WEST AFRICA: Humanitarian community supports International Criminal Court
A statement by the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) said it supported the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It said the ICC should have the necessary authority and capacity to undertake "vigorous investigation and expeditiously bring to justice" suspected war criminals. The IASC strongly believed that "wilful denial of humanitarian assistance, direct attacks against civilians, forceful deportations" or other serious violations of international humanitarian law should be included in the jurisdiction of the ICC. The establishment of the ICC is currently being discussed in Rome, Italy.
The IASC is a UN inter-agency body represented by heads of humanitarian agencies which discusses and designs humanitarian policies. It is made up of heads of major UN humanitarian agencies, OCHA, international NGO groupings and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The IASC is headed by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Abidjan, 16 June 1998, 18:00 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: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 12:42:22 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 230, 98.6.16 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980617124032.25439B-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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