Musings From Abroad

Chinese firm Zhongshan alleges Nigerian govt detained, assaulted its officials

Published

1 month ago

August 17, 2024

The management of Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Company Limited, claims that some of its executives were wrongfully detained and brutalised by police during a contractual dispute with Nigeria’s Ogun State government.

The firm said that the mistreatment forced it to pursue the seizure of Nigerian assets abroad.

On Thursday, the media was flooded with reports of the seizure of three of Nigeria’s presidential jets, as ordered by a French court.

Two of the confiscated jets, a Dassault Falcon 7X and a Boeing 737, are part of Nigeria’s presidential air fleet, which was recently placed up for sale, while the third is an Airbus 330 that Nigeria purchased but has yet to be delivered.

The planes, which were undergoing routine maintenance, were confiscated following ex parte orders obtained by the Paris judicial court on March 7 and August 12, 2024.

An arbitral tribunal subsequently awarded Zhongshan about $74.5m in compensation, but the state government did not honour the ruling.The seizure came after litigations were initiated by the Chinese company against the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Ogun State Government due to the termination of a contractual agreement.

An arbitral panel later awarded Zhongshan around $74.5 million in compensation, but the state administration ignored the decision.

Zhongshan stated in its statement of claim to the French court that members of its Nigerian management team were physically harmed as a result of threats.

It claimed that the Ogun State Government utilised the police to beat, threaten, and wrongfully imprison its employees after the government terminated its export processing zone management contract.

The company stated, “The draconian actions of the Nigerian authorities included the Secretary to the Ogun State Government (Taiwo Adeoluwa) directly threatening Zhongfu Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Jianxin Han, to leave peacefully when there is an opportunity to do so, and avoid forceful removal, complications, and possible prosecution.

“As if this treatment were not appalling enough, the Nigerian authorities followed through on their threats of physical harm to the claimant’s management team in Nigeria. The police arrested the Chief Financial Officer of Zhongfu Nigeria, Mr Wenxiao Zhao, detained him without basis or explanation in terrible conditions, and physically beat him on two occasions before releasing him—without any charge—after a week in two jails.”

Meanwhile, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Office, Omolola Odutola, said the police were not involved in the matter.

She said, “It is not a police issue; we are not involved. It doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

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Musings From Abroad

Blinken to address Gaza ceasefire and bilateral relations in Egypt

Published

16 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Concerned about rising tensions in the Middle East, United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is scheduled to visit Cairo on Wednesday.

During his visit, he intends to further efforts to establish a truce in Gaza and fortify relations with Egypt, according to his spokesperson. The visit by the senior US diplomat occurs at a time when the area is still on high alert because of the possibility that the Gaza War could spread, especially after Hezbollah, a militant organisation, threatened to avenge Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers around Lebanon on Tuesday.

Regarding the explosions, Israel has not answered enquiries. Nearly 3,000 people were injured, and at least nine people lost their lives.

At a routine briefing, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated that while it was too soon to determine how the events in Lebanon might impact the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, diplomacy was thought to be the most effective means of easing tensions.

Before meeting with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and other officials on Wednesday morning, Blinken met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo.

How we achieve a plan that we think would get support from both parties” to an Israel-Hamas truce was “squarely on the table” in Blinken’s conversations with Egyptian officials, Miller added.

For weeks, American authorities have stated that a fresh plan for a settlement that would see the release of hostages that Hamas had kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023, would be made available soon.

“There are some issues that we need to engage with the government of Egypt on as it relates to this ceasefire proposal that we are trying to bring to fruition,” Miller said.
According to a State Department official, Blinken will travel from Cairo to Paris on Thursday to meet with the foreign ministers of France, Italy, and Britain. During the meeting, they will talk about the Middle East, Ukraine, and other topics. According to the official, Blinken will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron.

This is the first time Blinken has skipped a stop in Washington’s closest regional ally, Israel since the Palestinian militant group Hamas started the Gaza War almost a year ago. Blinken will not be visiting Israel during this trip.

Miller explained that this was because Washington’s goal for this trip was to talk to Egypt about bilateral matters, and the proposal for a Gaza truce that the United States and its mediators have been working on was still not ready to be presented to Israel.

“So it would be premature to be presenting such a proposal, or doing any other diplomatic engagements,” he added.

In the crucial diplomatic effort to end the war, Egypt and Qatar have acted as a go-between for Hamas and Israel’s proposals and counterproposals. In an attempt to improve the flow of humanitarian supplies to Gaza’s 2.3 million war-torn citizens, Washington has also relied on Cairo.

In the raid on Israel last year, Palestinian militants claimed 1,200 lives and captured over 250 prisoners, according to Israeli accounts. Gaza claims that over 41,000 people have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory attack, which has essentially destroyed the territory.

Washington has sent billions of dollars into military aid to Egypt over their decades-long cooperation, even in the face of allegations of serious abuses, including torture and enforced disappearances, under Sisi’s regime. The Egyptian government refutes the charges.

Last week, Blinken lifted human rights requirements on U.S. foreign military assistance to Egypt, allowing the entire $1.3 billion for the first time since President Joe Biden took office, signalling Cairo’s growing prominence.

After promising to prioritise human rights in U.S.-Egypt relations, Seth Binder, director of advocacy for the Middle East Democracy Centre in Washington, stated that the Biden administration has “completely abandoned any pretence that human rights matter to the relationship.”

Musings From Abroad

3 Americans sentenced to death in DR Congo for thwarted coup

Published

3 days ago

September 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A military court has sentenced 37 accused persons to death for their roles in the failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May, including three US nationals.

On May 19, armed men took over the presidential residence in Kinshasa for a short while until security forces assassinated their leader, Christian Malanga, a politician from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was living in the US.

Marcel Malanga, his son, and Tyler Thompson, a friend of Marcel’s who played football with him in high school in Utah, were two of the Americans on trial. They’re both in their 20s.

Christian Malanga’s business associate Benjamin Zalman-Polun was the third American.
All three received the death penalty in a decision that was read aloud on television after being convicted guilty of terrorism, criminal conspiracy, and other offences.

Malanga had already informed the court that his father had threatened to murder him if he didn’t take part. In addition, he informed the court that he was going to Congo for the first time at his father’s invitation—a relationship he had not had in a long time.

After the failed coup, some fifty individuals, including citizens of the US, UK, Canada, Belgium, and the Congo, are awaiting prosecution. Thirty-seven offenders received death sentences.

The decision was announced in the courtyard of the military jail Ndolo, which is located outside of Kinshasa, beneath a tent. The defendants, dressed in prison-issue blue and yellow tops, were seated in front of the judge.

July marked the start of the trial. Ambassador personnel were present at the proceedings, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in Washington, and they will keep a careful eye on any further developments.

“We understand that the legal process in the DRC allows for defendants to appeal the court’s decision,” he told a briefing.

Jean-Jacques Wondo, a citizen of Belgium and Congo, is one of the 37 defendants. Before the trial, Wondo’s family made video messages to Congo President Félix Tshisekedi pleading for his release.