Metro

Outrage as Chinese government opens police stations in Nigeria, Lesotho, Tanzania

Published

2 years ago

October 19, 2022

The Chinese government on Tuesday, announced that it has opened police stations in Nigeria, Lesotho and Tanzania, in its bid to “curtail criminal activities being perpetrated by its citizens abroad.”

The Chinese police stations known as ‘Service Stations’ are located in Benin City in Nigeria, Maseru in Lesotho and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

A report by a pan-Asian human rights group, Safeguard Defenders titled, ‘110 Overseas Chinese Policing Gone Wild,’ noted that the Chinese government developed and established the overseas “service stations” to bring “down on all kinds of illegal and criminal activities involving Chinese based overseas” in accordance with international laws and best policing practices.

It added that the Chinese governent has been worried that many of its citizens living abroad were involved in crimes which is becoming alarming, hence the need to create the police stations in other countries.

The Safeguard Defenders report went on to criticise the establishment of the overseas police stations.

“Rather than using legal forms of international cooperation, they resort to pressuring targets to return, in fact, some 230,000 people for a little over a year. Tied to this, a new law this year will establish full extraterritorial powers for China.

“Whether the targets are dissidents, corrupt officials or low-level criminals, the problem remains the same: the use of irregular methods — often combining carrots with sticks — against the targeted individual or their family members in China undermines any due process and the most basic rights of suspects.

“Rather than cooperating with local authorities in the full respect of territorial sovereignty, it prefers… to cooperate with (United Front-linked) overseas ‘NGOs’ or ‘civil society associations’ across the the continents, setting up an alternative policing and judicial system within third countries, and directly implicating those organisations in the illegal methods employed to pursue ‘fugitives’.”

But while justifying the establishment of the police stations, the Minqing County Procuratorate, Li Riqin, said:

“Through the establishment of overseas service centers, Qingtian County Police has made breakthroughs in its overseas pursuit of fugitives.

“Since 2018, the Qingtian police have detected and solved six criminal cases related to overseas Chinese, successfully arrested a red notice fugitive, and persuaded two suspects to surrender under the assistance from the Overseas centers.

“While establishing these operations to hunt down those accused of fraud and telecommunications fraud, China has identified nine countries particularly prone to hosting Chinese nationals engaging in such criminal activities, the ‘nine forbidden countries.”

Related Topics:China Featured Lesotho Nigeria Police Stations Tanzania

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Metro

EU launches initiative to reintegrate over 417,661 out-of-school children in Nigeria

Published

14 minutes ago

November 15, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The European Union (EU) has launched an initiative to reintegrate over 417,661 out-of-school children in Nigeria, particularly in the northwestern parts of the country.

Mrs. Tobi Ransomed, who is the consortium lead, disclosed this during the launching of the “Accelerating Basic Education and Livelihood Opportunities for Children and Youth in North West Nigeria Program” (ABEP), held in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State, on Thursday.

While declaring the event open, Ransomed noted that the high rate of out-of-school children in the region required a holistic approach from all relevant stakeholders to ensure these children reached their potential.

Speaking further, she said the ABEP three-year pilot program would be implemented through Save the Children International, PLAN, and Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAG) across twelve local government areas in Kano, Jigawa, and Sokoto States.

“Data from Save the Children International (SCI), has shown that 10% of the world’s out-of-school children are in Nigeria, with over 10 million primary school-age children not in school. Approximately 25% of girls and 10% of boys in the country have been victims of sexual violence,” she stated.

“The program aims to increase access to safe, quality, and inclusive alternative and accelerated education programs for 324,000 young girls and boys, as well as 32,400 persons with disabilities, supporting their transition into formal or non-formal education.

“This project plans to increase access to livelihood opportunities, vocational education, and green job opportunities for 60,000 youths and 6,000 persons with disabilities, with 20,000 beneficiaries in each participating state.

“The overall objective is to contribute to the empowerment of the poorest, underserved, and most marginalized population groups, including women, girls, and youth, by providing access to quality, inclusive, gender-sensitive, and conflict-sensitive education in northwestern Nigeria with a special focus on Kano, Jigawa, and Sokoto States,” she stated.

Metro

World Bank pledges $3b to support Zambia’s development goals

Published

19 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The World Bank Group has pledged to avail Zambia with approximately $3 billion to support the country’s development goals under the new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for 2025-2029, with nearly half of the funds already disbursed.

World Bank Country Manager, Achim Fock, who made this known at the CPF launch at the Mulungushi Conference Centre in Lusaka on Wednesday, outlined the global lender’s focus areas, which included enhancing jobs, human capital, and climate resilience.

Fock highlighted that $200 million had been approved to strengthen Zambia’s social protection programs, including the Refugee and Host Community Project.

He also expressed optimism for upcoming approvals, including the Climate and Economic Resilience Financing and the Zambia-Tanzania Interconnector.

Zambia’s Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, who also spoke at the event, noted that 2.3 million Zambian households have so far benefited from social protection interventions such as the Cash for Work Programme, emphasizing the government’s commitment to safeguarding lives amid crises like the recent drought.

Musokotwane further reiterated the government’s commitment to protecting lives during times of crises such as the recent drought.

“More than two thirds of the Zambian population was affected by the drought. It was the government’s view that the first priority was to save lives,” Musokotwane stated.