Headline

Asylum: UK Bars IPOB Members, Others, Gives Reason

Published

2 years ago

May 6, 2022

The United Kingdom has barred the Indigenous People of Biafra, the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra and other Biafran groups from participating in its asylum programme.

The British government noted that IPOB had been proscribed as a terrorist group by the Federal Government and that members of the group and its paramilitary wing – the Eastern Security Network – have reportedly committed human rights violations.

The UK, therefore, said that persons who commit human rights violations must not be granted asylum.

The UK Visas and Immigration had in March 2021 released new guidelines to its decision makers on how to consider and grant asylum applications to IPOB members whose founder, Nnamdi Kanu, was operating from London before his arrest in Kenya last year.

In the guidelines titled, ‘Country Policy and Information Note Nigeria: Biafran secessionist groups,’ the UKVI, a division of the Home Office, directed its decision-makers to consider if a person “who actively and openly supports IPOB is likely to be at risk of arrest and detention, and ill-treatment which is likely to amount to persecution.’’

However, in the latest update published on its website on May 3, titled, ‘Country policy and information note: Separatist groups in the South-East, Nigeria,’ the UKVI said, “IPOB is proscribed as a terrorist group by the Nigerian government, and members of the group and its paramilitary wing – the Eastern Security Network (created in December 2020) – have reportedly committed human rights violations in Nigeria and various media articles.

“MASSOB has been banned but is not a proscribed terrorist group in Nigeria. It too has reportedly been involved in violent clashes with the authorities.

“If a person has been involved with IPOB (and/or an affiliated group), MASSOB or any other ‘Biafran’ group that incites or uses violence to achieve its aims, decision-makers must consider whether one (or more) of the exclusion clauses under the Refugee Convention is applicable.

“Persons who commit human rights violations must not be granted asylum.

“If the person is excluded from the Refugee Convention, they will also be excluded from a grant of humanitarian protection.”

The policy directed that decision makers must also check if there has been a previous application for a UK visa or another form of leave, noting that asylum applications matched to visas should be investigated before the asylum interview

According to the British government, establishing a convention reason is not sufficient to be recognised as a refugee.

“The question is whether the particular person has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of their actual or imputed convention reason,” it added.

For an asylum application to succeed, it said the decision-makers must consider each case on its facts, taking into account the legal status, profile, size, and organisation of the group/organisation to which the person belongs and its activities; whether a person in the UK would wish to continue their activism if returned to Nigeria (if not, why not) and whether the group/organisation has a presence in Nigeria as well as outside of the country and any evidence that it is being monitored by the government.

Other considerations include the person’s profile and political activities (including those online) and relevant documentary or other evidence; the profile and activities of family members; past treatment of the person, and evidence that their activities in the UK may have come to the attention of the Nigerian security agencies.

The guidance further noted, “Decision-makers will also need to take into account whether the person supports and is active on behalf of IPOB, which is a proscribed group in Nigeria, and whether they fear prosecution rather than persecution.

“The onus is on the person to demonstrate that they are of interest to the government because of their profile and activities and are at risk of serious harm or persecution.”

Headline

US-based Nigerian Bodybuilder Dies 18 Days After Being Shot By Wife

Published

16 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Editor

A US-based Nigerian bodybuilder, Michael Chidozie, 26, has died 18 days after he was shot multiple times by his wife, Keaiirra Shavoiyae, in the middle of an argument on March 21.

Chidozie lingered on life support, but he suffered a devastating spinal injury and died of complications on April 8, Daily Mail reports.

Chidozie was reported to have been shot four times by his wife during an argument inside their Houston apartment in front of their children.

Daily Mail further reports that Chidozie was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital after police found him with gunshot wounds and his wife in a panic holding their two kids, aged three and two.

A Houston media outlet, ABC13, reports that court documents show that he was shot twice in the torso, once in the arm, and once in the chest.

It added that Keaiirra, 28, was afterwards charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after the shooting, and her charges have not been upgraded since his death.

Keaiirra Shavoiyae
Investigators say that she claimed to have shot Chidozie in self-defence as she feared for her life during the argument when he followed her into their bedroom, where she picked up a pistol and shot him.

ABC13 further reports that Keaiirra has been released on bail and is set to next face court on May 23.

Chidozie’s family is trying to raise $70,000 to bring his body back to Nigeria for burial, as a GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with the expenses.

The PUNCH reported in January how an American-based Nigerian singer, Osazuwa Agbonayinma, popularly known as Zuwa, was shot dead in the United States of America.

Headline

Football Legend, David Beckham Wins £240m Legal Fight

Published

20 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Editor

David Beckham has won a massive £240million legal battle against several counterfeiters who were selling fake versions of his designer gear online.

The former football legend, 48, who is the director of DB Ventures had been seeking a staggering £1.58billion from 150 internet sellers.

Case files revealed the fraudsters were selling the fake goods on sites including Amazon, eBay, and Etsy by firms or individuals based in China or elsewhere in Asia.

These items consisted of designer clothing, footwear, perfume, hair, and body products, posters, footballs, video games, eyewear, jewellery, and watches.

The complaint said: ‘Their sale poses a real threat to DBV’s brand, and affects the sustainability of its business.

‘It also affects individuals and companies who unwittingly purchase them.’

The paperwork filed in the US also claimed the dodgy sales ‘erode the brand’s reputation’ and cost the company ‘considerable lost sales and harm’.

But now after almost three months since initiating legal action, Beckham has won the case, according to The Sun.

Last summer a temporary injunction and asset freeze were granted to Becks, which have now been made permanent by the judge.

Additionally, DB Venture’s motion for a default judgment against 44 defendants was granted, awarding £8,000 for each infringement.

However, the total award of £352,000 is significantly lower than the £ 240 million sought by Beckham’s team from the 15 firms collectively.

The former England captain will be happy to know that the counterfeiters are required to stop selling and forfeit any profits they accumulated.

DB Ventures enlisted the expertise of trademark specialists, The Sladkus Law Group, to put an end to the illicit sales.

In the filing, partner Jeffrey Sladkus explained that tracking the sites was challenging due to their lack of accurate address or phone number information.

He emphasised that legal threats were the sole effective method to halt their activities.

Beckham allegedly sold a 55 per cent stake in the firm to Authentic Brands in 2022 for £200million, despite the company’s profitable turnover doubling to £72million in the same year.

The company owns fashion brands Juicy Couture and Forever 21.

A source previously told the publication: ‘Authentic Brands want to crack down on people making cash from flogging goods with David’s name attached to it.

‘David and the team pride themselves on the quality of what they sell, including their clothes and fragrances, and they don’t want people being unwittingly ripped off when they buy a fake.’

Headline

US Doctor Found Guilty Of Poisoning Patients

Published

20 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Editor

A doctor in Texas has been found guilty of injecting heart-stopping poison into IVs at his former medical clinic in North Dallas.

FOX 4 in Dallas reported that a 12-person jury found Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz guilty on all 10 counts after nearly seven hours of deliberation.

When the verdict was read, Ortiz showed no emotion for the crimes he had committed.

As a result of Ortiz’s action, several patients suffered cardiac emergencies and Dr. Melanie Kaspar died after using one of the IV bags, prosecutors said.

Federal prosecutors said the anesthesiologist committed the shocking crimes at Baylor Scott and White Surgicare North Dallas in retaliation for a medical misconduct probe.

A criminal complaint accused Ortiz of injecting nerve-blocking and bronchodilation drugs into patient IV bags.

Surveillance video showed the doctor placing an IV bag in a stainless steel warmer outside an operating room on Aug. 19, 2022.

Minutes later, another staffer took the bag, and a patient soon after reportedly suffered a heart attack.

Ortiz’s colleague, beloved anesthesiologist Melanie Kaspar, took a contaminated IV bag home on June 21 to rehydrate due to an illness.

Almost immediately after inserting the IV into her vein, she suffered a serious cardiac event and died.

An autopsy showed she was fatally poisoned by bupivacaine, a numbing agent that the Justice Department said “is rarely abused” but used to alleviate pain during surgery.

“There’s no closure. My best friend is gone,” John Kaspar, Dr. Melanie Kaspar’s widower reportedly said shortly after the verdict. “I don’t think he ever looked me in the eye… It’s almost like you have so many emotions you can’t sift them out. You get flooded.”

The station reported that the witnesses called to the stand during the trial included the anesthesiologist who discovered the bags were tainted, John Kaspar, and a teen who suffered cardiac arrest during nose surgery.

The incidents first began two days after Oritz was notified of a disciplinary inquiry against him over his handling of a medical emergency.

Other doctors noted he complained the center was trying to “crucify” him.

FOX 4 reported that there were 13 patients between May and August 2022 who experienced similar cardiac emergencies, though prosecutors only charged the doctor with causing bodily injury to four of the patients in August.

A judge had ordered Ortiz be held before trial after prosecutors argued that he was a danger to the community by citing, in part, a 2015 incident in which he shot his neighbor’s dog in retaliation for the woman helping his then-girlfriend obtain a restraining order against him after a domestic violence incident.

Ortiz was convicted of four counts of tampering with consumer products resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of tampering with a consumer product, and five counts of intentional adulteration of a drug, prosecutors said.

Ortiz is expected to be sentenced in two to three months in prison.

Surveillance video introduced into evidence at Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz's trial shows him retrieving IV bags from the warming bin and replacing them shortly thereafter, not long before the bags were carried into operating rooms where patients experienced complications. [No audio.] pic.twitter.com/wScGP7SVsE
— US Attorney N. Texas (@NDTXnews) April 12, 2024