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Nigerian official accused of encouraging multi-million naira fraud elected into African court

Despite a N1 billion suit against her for allegedly conspiring to subvert the trial of suspects in a multi-million naira contract scam involving Zinox officials, Stella Anukam was earlier this month named as one of 11 new Judges appointed for the African Court on Human & People’s Rights

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Despite a N1 billion suit against her for allegedly conspiring to subvert the trial of suspects in a multi-million naira contract scam involving Zinox officials, Stella Anukam was earlier this month named as one of 11 new Judges appointed for the African Court on Human & People’s Rights.

Anukam, who is also the national coordinator on human rights issues in Nigeria, was elected during the 31st African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government in Nouackchott, Mauritania.

According to NAN, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, in a statement on July 1 in Abuja hailed her election as “a great victory for Nigeria.”

But one man’s frustrating cry for justice over alleged abuse of his rights, which he blames on Anukam’s alleged connivance with the Nigerian police, remains a living pain still seeking restitution.

Read Also: What Tunisia’s new anti-corruption law will do to public officials

The managing director of an Ibadan-based ICT retail firm, Citadel Oracle Concept Limited, Benjamin Joseph, said his N1 billion suit against Mrs Anukam is his quest for elusive justice.

Mr Joseph’s immediate reaction to Mrs Anukam’s latest appointment was that of “sheer frustration and outright disgust,” a sad commentary about the depth of corruption in Nigeria.

In a telephone interview, Mr Joseph told PREMIUM TIMES that apart from his subsisting case against Mrs Anukam, he was considering a strong protest to the African Court on Human and People’s Rights against her election after due consultations with his legal counsel.

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Kenya: Senior ICC prosecutor drops probe into 2007 post-election violence

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A senior official of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Nazhat Shameen Khan has announced an end to all further investigations into crimes committed in Kenya relating to violence that erupted following elections in 2007.

The ICC Deputy Chief Prosecutor said the 13-year legal saga, which involved senior Kenyan politicians, had been dropped

“I have reached this decision after considering the specific facts and circumstances of this situation,” she said in a statement.

“Accordingly, the Office will not pursue additional cases into the alleged criminal responsibility of other persons.”

Prosecutors claim that during the nation’s post-election violence in 2010, some 600,000 people were left homeless, and 1,300 people killed in a case in which suspects included former and current Kenyan presidents, Uhuru Kenyatta and President William Ruto. The Hague-based tribunal began looking into the incident in 2010. Six suspects were initially charged with crimes against humanity, which included deportation and murder.

However, in 2014, former chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda dropped the charges against Kenyatta, and in 2016, the prosecution’s case against Ruto was also dropped due to insufficient evidence. The lack of evidence caused the case against all six to fall apart.

Prosecutors opened a new investigation into witness intimidation and bribery after Bensouda claimed that an unrelenting campaign of intimidation against victims and witnesses prevented a trial.

Decades after the “third wave of democratisation,” widespread violence still occurs in sub-Saharan Africa after elections. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Zimbabwe, among others, have had their share of election conflicts.

Kenya is still not free from election disturbances, as levels of violence also played out during and after the 2022 elections.

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Sierra Leonean govt finally labels weekend attack ‘failed coup’

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The Sierra Leonean government has finally labelled attacks on several locations in the capital, Freetown, on Sunday as failed attempt to overthrow the government, having previously refraining from so classifying it.

Authorities in the West African nation said that gunmen stormed a military barracks, a prison, and other locations on Sunday, freeing roughly 2,200 prisoners and leaving over 20 people dead. On Monday, everything had returned to normal.

“The incident was a failed attempted coup. The intention was to illegally subvert and overthrow a democratically elected government,” said President Julius Bio.

“The attempt failed, and plenty of the leaders are either in police custody or on the run. We will try to capture them and bring them to the full force of the laws of Sierra Leone.”

The tense situation in Sierra Leone, which is still recuperating from a civil war that claimed over 50,000 lives between 1991 and 2002, has persisted since Bio was re-elected in June.

International allies, such as the US and the EU, questioned the outcome, and the major opposition candidate rejected it.

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