“We the People releases report of Killing in Rivers state between July and December 2020, demands accountability”
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January 20, 2021
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NIGERIA NATURAL RESOURCE CHATER 2019 BENCHMARKING EXERCISE REPORT: PRECEPT 5-LOCAL IMPACTS & PRECEPTS 11-ROLE OF EXTRACTIVE COMPANIES
The Natural Resource Charter (NRC) is a set of principles intended for use by governments, societies, and the international community to determine how best to manage natural resource wealth for the benefit of current and future generations of citizens. The charter’s 12 precepts cover the different kinds of decisions and policies that are required to successfully…
November 22, 2020
Groups fault composition of panels of inquiry in Cross Rivers, Rivers, others
Some civil society groups have expressed concern over the manner in which some Panels of Enquiry on Police Brutality were being established in Cross River, Rivers, and other states of the federation, warning that the committees may not achieve the expected results. Executive Director of ‘We The People,’ Ken Henshaw, said the decision of some governors…
November 2, 2020
#EndSARS probe: Group worries panels’ composition may undermine agitators’ demands
A non-governmental organisation, We the People, has expressed fears that the composition of various State Panels of Inquiry might undermine the genuine intention of federal and state governments to investigate the activities of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). Executive Director of We the People, Ken Henshaw, expressed this in a statement he issued in Port…
November 2, 2020
State Level Panels of Inquiry Must be Inclusive and Objective
Following the nationwide #EndSARS protests which has forced the federal and some state governments to re-assess their responsibility of ensuring that law enforcement officers operate within established rules; and that atrocities committed by those tasked to protect are accounted for, different levels of government have established frameworks for investigative processes. Several states have established Panels of…
October 29, 2020
Address host communities’ issues in new PIB – Expert
Mr Ken Henshaw, Executive Director, Center for Social Studies and Development (CSSD) says a decent Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) must address major concerns that will drive economic growth of oil producing communities and the country at large. Henshaw made this known at a Virtual Masters class on Precept 5 of the Nigerian Natural Resource Charter (NNRC)…
October 27, 2020
Scorecard:Akpabio’s first year as Niger Delta Affairs minister blighted by corruption scandals
The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs under Mr Akpabio's has been overshadowed by corruption scandals in NDDC which it supervises, although some of the cases predate his appointment in 2019.
October 27, 2020
Crisis looms over planned termination of amnesty programme
As concerns grow among ex-militants that the federal government might be considering the termination of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), signs of a possible resistance are already building up in the Niger Delta region.
October 27, 2020
Unemployment: Civil Society Organisation Raises Alarm In Niger Delta
Civil society groups working in the Niger Delta have raised alarm over the level of unemployment in the region.
October 27, 2020
Niger Delta groups want Buhari to suspend procurements in NDDC
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to suspend all procurements in Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). In a petition to the President, 29 civil society organisations across the Niger Delta recommended that supervision of the NDDC should moved back to the presidency.
October 27, 2020
Why we are also demanding an end to SARS and other forms of law enforcement brutality
In the last 3 years, We the People has campaigned actively demanding an end to atrocities of law enforcement officers against citizens in Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta. In 2018 alone, we published 10 reports describing killings by state and non-state actors, including those of the Police and other armed forces. Between 2018 and 2019,…
October 27, 2020
We the People and Street Children in Calabar Protest Government Neglect
We the People is deeply concerned about the plight of Street Children in Calabar. For almost 2 decades, Calabar, the capital of Cross River state in southern Nigeria has seen a continued rise in the number of children that live on the streets and provide for themselves without the supervision of adults. While Cross River state…
October 10, 2020
Police Disrupt We the People’s Independence Day Protest on Bad Governance, Insecurity
To commemorate Nigeria’s 60th Independence Anniversary, We the People on October 1st, 2020, participated in a peaceful protest in Port Harcourt aimed at calling the attention of the country’s leadership to bad governance, poorly implemented policies, insecurity and killings in the country and the general decline of development indicators in the country. Unfortunately, the protesters numbering in…
October 1, 2020
We the People Raise Alarm over Shrinking Civic Space in Nigeria, Trains Journalists, Bloggers and Activists to Defend the Space
In the last five years, Nigeria has witnessed an alarming rise in state backed attempts to stifle the civic space, criminalize democratic dissent and suffocate freedom of assembly and expression. In this period, there has been at least three legislative attempts made to stifle basic freedoms and the civic space. These have included attempts to pass…
September 4, 2020
‘FG treating US warning on ISIS, Al-Qaida, B’Haram infiltration to South with levity’
Executive Director of a nongovernmental organisation, We The People (WTP), Mr. Ken Henshaw, has accused the Federal government of treating the warning to the Nigerian government by the United States of the infiltration of ISIS, Al- Qaeda and Boko Haram into the Southern part of the country with ignominy.
August 24, 2020
“Corruption Allegations in NDDC Must be Investigated and Culprits Diligently Prosecuted” We the People Press Conference Demands
We are deeply concerned about recent revelations on the scale of corruption and mismanagement in the Niger Delta Development Commission. We recall that the NDDC was established in 2000 as one of the first tasks of the new democratic government in Nigeria, and conceived as a response to the agitations of the people of the region…
August 5, 2020
FG’s benefits transfer systems to host communities failing ― Report
All the systems of benefits transfer to oil-producing communities put in place by the Federal Government have over the years, failed to address the exploitation, degradation and deprivation suffered by the communities, according to a report by Centre for Social Studies and Development.
August 3, 2020
‘Bulk withdrawal’ made from NDDC account during NASS probe — 35 CSOs
THIRTY-FIVE leading Niger Delta-based civil society organisations, CSOs, and community organisations, on Wednesday, raised the alarm that while the National Assembly probe into the activities of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, was ongoing, ‘bulk withdrawal’ was made from its account.
July 30, 2020
Why Nigeria scored poorly in natural resource charter…Experts
Oil and gas stakeholders and community development experts have listed several reasons why Nigeria currently performs abysmally in natural resource charter that has led to gross under-development of many rural areas where crude oil is mined and refined...
July 30, 2020
Notes on Corruption in NDDC
• “People were treating the place (NDDC) as an ATM, where you just walk in there to go and pluck money and go away” -Godswill Akpabio • “NDDC has 12,000 abandoned projects in the Niger Delta” -Godswill Akpabio • “There is no way NDDC road can last (for) even two years” -Godswill Akpabio • NDDC owes…
July 21, 2020
Overhaul leadership architecture of NDDC-CSOs tell Buhari
A coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Nigeria have called for the overhauling of the Niger Delta Development Commission and the disbandment of the leadership architecture of the commission.
July 21, 2020
Group urges C’River Govt. To Implement Child Rights Law – NNN
Centre for Social Studies and Development, an NGO has called on Cross River Government to implement the Child Rights law to curb increasing number of children on the streets.
July 9, 2020
Street children: Group urges C’River State – Realnews Magazine
CENTRE for Social Studies and Development, an NGO has called on Cross River Government to implement the Child Rights law to curb the increasing number of children on the streets.
July 9, 2020
Street children: Group task C’River govt on implementation of ‘Child Rights’ law
The increased number of street children in Calabar, the Cross River state capital, has drawn the ire of a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Centre for Social Studies and Development which blamed the issue on the inability of the state government to implementing the Child Rights Law it domesticated.
July 9, 2020
Street children in Calabar accuse Cross River State Government of neglect – dailypost.ng
Over one hundred street children in Calabar, Cross River State have accused the State government of neglect and abandonment. The Street children who spoke to DAILY POST separately on Tuesday at their makeshift residents at Lema dump-sites in Calabar regretted the way the government treats them, lamenting that their situation was not as bad during the…
July 9, 2020
Advocating for Street Children in Calabar: We the People Hosts Street Child Summit
In Calabar the capital of Cross River state, southern Nigeria, hundreds of children, some as young as 6 live on the streets. These kids are exposed to the most horrendous conditions of existence, conditions that can only be described as atrocious. To survive each day, they depend only on what they can scavenge from refuse dumps,…
June 30, 2020
Over 300 kids live on the streets of Calabar, dangerously at risk of exposure to Covid19 if the government doesn't act.
Over 300 kids live on the streets of Calabar, dangerously at risk of exposure to Covid19 if the government doesn’t act.
This video briefly tells the story of hundreds of children in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria who literally live on the streets and fend for themselves without any support from families or the government. It demands action from the government to protect these kids from exposure to COVID19"
April 9, 2020
We Demand Accountability for the Invasion and Atrocities Committed at Udoda.
Press Conference on the Military Invasion of Udoda Community in Ahaoda West LGA of Rivers State by the Nigerian Military.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media, We the People and the Rivers State Civil Society Organizations profoundly welcomes you to this Press Conference. We have invited you here this morning to share our concerns about recent spate of actions by the Nigerian military against Niger Delta communities, actions which can best be described as atrocious. …
March 18, 2020
Jaws of Death
Between November 2019 and February 2020, there was noted rise in cases of killings in River state. The period witnessed attack on and by law enforcement officers, gang killings and random murders. This report details the killings and makes a profound demand for accountability.
March 18, 2020
Documentary Evidence of Military Atrocity against communities in the Niger Delta
“Everywhere Scatter” In the Niger Delta, the Nigerian Military has adopted a very strange strategy for fighting illegal refining of crude oil. Wherever it finds these illegal artisanal refineries, it destroys the entire community with bombs, irrespective of the innocence of people in the community. This video tells the story of a community in Rivers state…
March 12, 2020
We the People Validates Research Findings on Oil Sector Governance in Nigeria
On the — of November 2019, We the People held a dialogue session in Port Harcourt, Rivers state to present and validate findings from its 2019 Natural Resource Benchmarking Exercise. The benchmarking exercise assess Nigeria’s performance against 12 Natural Resource Charter (NRC) precepts with a view to identifying lapses in the extractive governance decision making process. The Charter is a set of principles for governments and societies on how best to harness the opportunities created by extractive resources for development. It provides certain minimum standards and frameworks which are recommended for implementation to provides maximum benefits from natural resources. (more…)
December 10, 2019
CoSet Launches Campaign to End Gas Flaring in Nigeria
On the 26th of November 2019, the Coalition for Social and Ecological Transformation, CoSET, an umbrella of several environmental and human rights focused originations across Nigeria, launched a campaign in Port Harcourt, Rivers state aimed at ending the flaring of associated gas in the Niger Delta. At the launch of the campaign, the Coalition berated Nigeria’s Federal Government for not taking a firm stand to end gas flaring in the country, citing the continued shift of every deadline established to ensure that multinational oil companies stop the flaring of gas at oil extraction sites. (more…)
December 6, 2019
We the People and Cross River Communities Demand New Forest Protection Regime
On the 12th of October 2019, We the People and the Coalition of REDD+ Delineated Forest Communities in Cross River state, held a consultative meeting in Calabar to assess the level of forest protection in the state and examine actions and proposals that could impact the forests. (more…)
October 31, 2019
Origins of the Street Child Phenomenon in Calabar: An Interview with Researcher and Child Rights Campaigner Williams Arikpo
WTP: Could you introduce yourself sir and tell us a bit about the work you have done with street children in Calabar?
WilliamsArikpo: My name is Williams Arikpo. I started working with street children in 2003, I did a head count and found more than 300 children on the streets of Calabar. I have a paper I wrote down their names one by one. It wasn’t like a survey but I mean, when I meet you, I write down your name. (more…)
October 8, 2019
Incidents of Atrocity in Rivers State in September 2019
In September 2019, gang criminality continued to rise in River state. The month witnessed attack on Police officers, politically motivated killings and inter communal murders. However, the most bizarre of the killings were those by a serial killer(s) following a pattern of murders targeting women in hotels in Rivers state. In the month of September 25…
October 8, 2019
MY CORRUPTION STORY: My Sex for Marks Experience
As a student and a citizen of Nigeria, I see myself growing up to become a responsible leader but corruption has a way of manipulating the minds of people. I studied Statistics in Kenule Beeson Saro Wiwa Polytechnic, the former Rivers State Polytechnic. As a National Diploma (ND1) student, I made good grades, not because I…
September 19, 2019
TOWARDS ENDING THE SERIAL KILLING OF WOMEN IN RIVERS STATE
In the last three months, at least 10 women have been killed in Rivers state in disturbing circumstances. This Briefing Note presents contextual analysis of these murders including current responses, as well as options and recommendations to the government and the Police to address this emergent problem.
September 19, 2019
Gang Wars
In the 31-day period of August 2019, there were 10 documented incidents of atrocity in Rivers state that resulted in 45 killings. This figure is more than double that of the previous month, indicating a further descent into insecurity in parts of the state. The spate of killings reflects a general climate of insecurity and lawlessness…
September 11, 2019
End of visit statement of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on her visit to Nigeria
Between the 19th of August and the 3rd of September 2019, Agnes Callamard, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions conducted an official country visit to Nigeria. For 12 days, she examined situations of violations of the right to life by State and non-State actors; the Federal State security strategy and the responses…
September 11, 2019
Paradise of Pedophiles
In the last decade, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of children living in the streets of Calabar. These kids are exposed to the most horrendous conditions including forced labour and regular physical abuses. To survive each day, these kids depend only on what they can scavenge from refuse dumps, leftovers at restaurants,…
August 16, 2019