Musings From Abroad

Court documents show Meta contractor overlooked Ethiopia rebel threats to moderators

Published

1 day ago

December 10, 2024

New evidence cited by Reuters suggests that a contractor employed by Facebook’s parent company, Meta, overlooked threats against content moderators by Ethiopian rebels during a case contesting the removal of dozens of moderators in Kenya.

Last year, 185 content moderators sued Meta and two contractors for losing their positions with Sama, a Kenyan business that moderated Facebook material, for seeking to form a union.

After Facebook switched contractors, they were barred from applying for the same jobs at Majorel.

Foxglove, a British non-profit helping Ethiopian moderators, submitted court filings on Dec. 4 alleging that Sama ignored their accusations that OLA rebels had targeted them for deleting their videos.

In the petition obtained by Reuters, the moderators said Sama accused them “of creating a false account and manufacturing” the threatening messages before agreeing to a probe and transferring one of the rebels’ officially named moderators to a safe house.

In his statement, Moderator Abdikadir Alio Guyo said that OLA had threatened “content moderators who were constantly pulling down their graphic Facebook Posts.”

“They told us to stop removing their content from Facebook or else we would face dire consequences,” he said, adding that his supervisor dismissed his concerns.
In his declaration, another moderator, Hamza Diba Tubi, stated that OLA sent him a message with the names and addresses of both himself and his coworkers.

“Since I received that threatening message, I have lived in so much fear of even visiting my family members in Ethiopia,” he said.

After peace negotiations in Tanzania in 2023 failed to end a decades-old conflict, the government of Oromiya, Ethiopia’s biggest province, accused OLA rebels of killing “many civilians” in assaults.

Musings From Abroad

French army begins Chad pullout

Published

1 day ago

December 10, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Just two weeks after local authorities said they were terminating their defence collaboration, the French army announced that jets deployed in the capital N’Djamena had returned home on Tuesday, marking the beginning of France’s military departure from Chad.

The government of Chad, a crucial Western partner in the war against Islamic jihadists in the area, unexpectedly terminated its defence cooperation treaty with France on November 28, a decision that caught French authorities off guard.

It is still unclear how the evacuation will be executed and if any French forces will remain in the central African country at all, even after the first Mirage aircraft returned to their base in eastern France on Tuesday.

“It marks the beginning of the return of French equipment stationed in N’Djamena,” Army spokesperson Colonel Guillaume Vernet said.

Due to anti-French sentiment and military takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, France has already withdrawn its troops from those West African nations.

Decades of French military participation in the Sahel area came to an end with the departure from Chad, and more recently, French military operations against Islamist extremists in the region were discontinued.

There are still around 1,000 French soldiers in Chad. Vernet stated that it would still take several weeks for the two nations to establish a schedule for reducing its activities.

Musings From Abroad

OPEC extends Nigeria’s 1.5m bpd oil quota until 2026

Published

2 days ago

December 9, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has extended Nigeria’s oil production limit of 1.5 million barrels of petroleum per day (bpd) until 2026 as part of efforts to improve market stability.

The group made the position known following the 38th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting when the decision to prolong Nigeria’s quota was taken.

Additionally, OPEC extended the level of total crude oil output for both OPEC and non-OPEC participating nations in the Declaration of Cooperation, DoC.

Despite the 1.5 million barrels per day oil production cap imposed by OPEC, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), has revealed that the aim to produce 2.06 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2025 is still on track.

Following the 38th meeting of OPEC’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, or JMMC, on Wednesday, Lokpobiri reiterated the nation’s commitment to preserving price stability in a statement released by his media assistant, Nnemaka Okafor.

He clarified that condensate oil production is part of the 2.06 million barrels per day output that is part of the 2025 Appropriations Bill.

“Ministers and heads of delegations convened to discuss important strategies to ensure long-term stability in the world oil market,” he added.

“The discussions underscored the unwavering commitment of OPEC and non-OPEC member countries to the principles of the Declaration of Cooperation, first established in 2016 and reinforced through subsequent extensions, including adoption of the Charter of Cooperation in 2019. This framework remains a cornerstone of OPEC’s strategic approach to balancing global supply and demand dynamics.”

Reaffirming the crude oil production adjustments decided upon at the 35th OPEC Ministerial Meeting, which will be in force until December 31, 2026, was one of the meeting’s significant outcomes, he continued.

To improve transparency and maintain market equilibrium, ministers stressed the vital significance of complete compliance with output levels and the establishment of a strong compensation system.

“For Nigeria,” he explained, “these resolutions provide a strategic pathway to achieving the nation’s 2025 production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (inclusive of condensates), as outlined in the draft 2025 Appropriation Bill, positioning the country to leverage its resources effectively, while aligning with global market trends.”

Nigeria’s commitment to the DoC was reaffirmed by Lokpobiri, who also highlighted the need of teamwork in maintaining a stable and sustainable oil market.

“This meeting reflects the unity and resolve of OPEC and its partners to maintain stability and ensure a balanced market. Nigeria remains steadfast in supporting these efforts, while pursuing our national objectives within the global energy landscape,” Senator Lokpobiri stated.