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IRIN-WA Update 492 of events in West Africa (Wednesday 23 June 1999)
SIERRA LEONE: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, begins a two-day visit to Sierra Leone on Thursday to bolster human rights protection in the war-torn country.
The purpose of her visit is to "assess the human rights situation in Sierra Leone and to express her support and solidarity for victims of human rights abuses in Sierra Leone as well as for their defenders", according to the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL).
A UN human rights official in Freetown told IRIN that the launch of a "Human Rights Manifesto for Sierra Leone" is seen as one of the highlights of her visit.
"This represents a commitment by the government, local human rights groups, UNOMSIL and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to promote and advance the cause of human rights in Sierra Leone," the official said.
[See Item: irin-english-1084, titled "UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit"]
ECOMOG Force Commander counsels aid agencies
ECOMOG Force Commander Major General Felix Mujakperuo provided a security guarantee to aid agencies operating in ECOMOG-controlled areas at a meeting with a delegation from Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF), the West African peacekeeping force reported.
Mujakperuo said his commanders were "adequately briefed on the process of offering the security coverage required by all aid agencies," according to an ECOMOG press release.
He said ECOMOG could only assist aid agencies in areas liberated from the rebels and advised such agencies "to be very careful when dealing with the rebels" according to the statement.
Mujakperuo added that aid agencies might have difficulties accessing rebel-held areas by road as the rebels had already "cratered" all the roads leading to areas under their control.
He advised aid agencies to differentiate between "assistance which (is)
vital to needy civilians" and assistance "required by active combatants to continue their atrocities", adding that ECOMOG "would not tolerate the violation of its positions by rebel fighters in the guise of seeking assistance of any kind".
"This was the essence of security clearance to aid agencies operating across the line," Mujakperuo said.
LIBERIA: Taylor meets ECOWAS delegation
A delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was in Liberia on Tuesday and Wednesday, a humanitarian source told IRIN.
The source said the delegation included Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The independent Star radio reported that the team had a closed-door meeting on Tuesday with Liberian President Charles Taylor. Led by ECOWAS Executive Secretary Lasana Kouyate and Togolese Foreign Minister Joseph Koffigoh, the team met earlier in Freetown with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone.
Taylor called off a planned visit to Togo following reports that the ECOWAS delegation was expected in Monrovia, Star said.
Government denies ethnic cleansing
The Liberian Government has denied reports of ethnic cleansing in Lofa County, located in the northwest of the country, on the border with Guinea and Sierra Leone, Star radio reported.
Star quoted Deputy Information Minister Milton Teahjay as saying the government was involved in reconciling the ethnic groups in the county.
Teahjay was reacting to allegations that government was carrying out ethnic cleansing in Lofa, made by opposition politician Alhaji Kromah in a statement faxed to the Liberian media.
Kromah alleged that government had armed people to persecute others of Muslim background in Lofa, Nimba and other counties. Lofa has been wracked this year by clashes between the mainly Muslim Mandingo community and other ethnic groups.
GUINEA: UNESCO offers funds for Sierra Leone refugees
UNESCO has offered US $300,000 for Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea, AFP reported Director-General Federico Mayor as saying on Tuesday at the end of a two-day visit to Guinea, where he met President Lansana Conte and opened a UNESCO office in Conakry.
NIGERIA: Cholera
Parts of northern Nigeria are threatened by a major outbreak of cholera which has claimed at least 60 lives since the beginning of June, local health officials said.
At least 20 people have died in the past week in cholera outbreaks in Zaria and Sabon Gari local government areas of the northcentral state of Kaduna, where over 200 people are critically ill in hospitals, the officials said.
"Available records show that out of 200 people admitted at the Gambo Sawaba Hospital in Zaria, 16 lost their lives last week," a senior official in the Kaduna State health department told IRIN on Tuesday. He said at the Bambam Health Centre, also in Zaria, 58 people were admitted and four died.
The officials said Kaduna Governor Mohammed Makarfi visited the two affected local government areas at the weekend and donated 1,200 cartons of drugs for the treatment of patients.
And no fewer than 30 people were reported dead in the communities of Biu and Hawul in the Lake Chad region bordering Chad and Cameroon.
[See Item irin-english-1083, titled "Cholera in the north"]
Thirty-one areas hit by communal conflict in a decade
"Thirty-one prominent communal conflict areas have developed in Nigeria in the last 10 years," said Samie Ihejirika of Strategic Empowerment and Mediation Agency, a Nigerian non-governmental organisation.
He identified the major cause as rivalry over distribution of resources, which may manifest itself as disputes over land, money, titles or chieftaincy.
[See Item: irin-english-1082, titled: NIGERIA: IRIN Background report on communal conflicts]
NIGERIA: Teachers suspend two-month long strike
The Nigerian Union of Teachers has suspended its two-month-long strike following payment of a new minimum wage for public sector workers, state-owned Radio Nigeria reported on Tuesday.
The teachers' decision resulted from assurances by the government that their demands would be met, the radio said.
The new minimum wage is 3,000 naira (US $32) a month.
TEXACO declares force majeure, suspends production
The US oil giant Texaco has suspended production in the Niger Delta after armed youths attacked and boarded two oil rigs demanding compensation for an oil spill, news reports said on Tuesday.
As a result, the firm shut down six offshore platforms that collectively produce 50,000 barrels a day, Reuters reported. The company has declared "force majeure", meaning it has informed buyers of its inability to meet scheduled deliveries.
The attackers, from Bayelsa State in the Delta, are demanding compensation for an oil spill in June 1998. However, Texaco says the youths cannot substantiate their claim.
In all, 60 Nigerian employees and contractors worked on the Funiwa and North Apoi platforms, Reuters said. Texaco, it added, holds a 20-percent state in the joint venture, which it operates for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The NNPC holds a 60-percent stake and the US firm Chevron Corp. holds the remaining 20 percent, Reuters said.
Panel approved to investigate government transactions
President Olusegun Obasanjo has approved the establishment of a seven-man committee to investigate all transactions between January 1994 and 27 May 1999 involving government landed property, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) reported on Tuesday.
Quoting presidential spokesman Doyin Okupe, it said the measure was in line with an electoral pledge that Obasanjo would tackle corruption head on.
The panel will identify all federal landed property, decide which ones have been or are in danger of being sold, leased, given away and "determine the propriety of such transactions".
In addition, NTA said, the panel will decide whether the transactions were in the public interest and, if not, "recommend appropriate action against the public officers implicated in the transactions". The body will be headed by Oluwale Rotimi. It is to be inaugurated on Monday and will have 90 days to complete its business.
GHANA: Cholera
Some 55 cholera cases have been reported this month in Accra, Ghana, according to information relayed to IRIN by the WHO.
According to the Health Ministry's Disease Control Unit, "55 cases of cholera, with three deaths, were reported to the polyclinic at Korle-Bu (an Accra neighbourhood)" in 1-21 June and "two specimens confirmed cholera", a source in the WHO office in Accra told IRIN.
"Necessary logistical support has been given for case management," the WHO source quoted the head of the Unit as saying. "The previous outbreak, which started in January 1999, did not abort fully before the rainy season started at the beginning of this month."
Abidjan, 23 June 1999, 16:45 GMT
[ENDS]
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Item: irin-english-1088
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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