Headline

Nigerians Recruited As UK Prison Officers Sleep In Cars, Camp Near Jails

Published

8 months ago

January 17, 2025

Editor

Jails in the United Kingdom have turned to recruiting prison officers from Nigeria and other countries to address staffing shortages.

However, many of these new recruits, including Nigerians, are facing accommodation challenges, with some sleeping in their cars or camping to save on housing costs, The Telegraph reports on Thursday.

According to the report, this marks the first time the UK prison service is sponsoring skilled worker visas for international recruits, following a 2023 rule change that added prison officers to the list of eligible professions.

Many of these new recruits are Nigerians, including some who switched to the prison service from other visa routes.

The Prison Officers Association has revealed cases of Nigerian recruits arriving at UK prisons with the assumption that accommodation would be provided.

The president of the POA, Mark Fairhurst, described a case where a recruit commuted 70 miles daily from Huddersfield to Nottingham before deciding it was cheaper to sleep in his car outside the prison.

At another location, some officers reportedly set up a camp in a wooded area near the prison after discovering they had to arrange housing independently.

“We have got problems with people who turn up at the gates with cases in tow and with their families saying to the staff: ‘Where is the accommodation?’,” Fairhurst said.

The country’s Ministry of Justice sources indicate that about 250 foreign nationals have so far been recruited into the UK prison service after Zoom interviews and vetting.

In 2023, a significant portion of the 3,500 monthly applicants were reportedly from Africa.

The president of the Prison Governors Association, Tom Wheatley, attributed the surge to word-of-mouth promotion by Nigerians already working in the UK.

“It’s turned into an approach that has been promoted online by the expat Nigerian community,” Wheatley said.

However, he acknowledged challenges, including language barriers and difficulties integrating foreign recruits into rural communities.

Despite these issues, the UK prison service insists its recruitment and training processes are robust.

A Prison Service spokesman told The Telegraph that “all staff – regardless of nationality – undergo robust assessments and training before they work in prisons. Our strengthened vetting process roots out those who fall below our high standards.”

Meanwhile, the reliance on virtual interviews has also drawn criticism, with some questioning the suitability of officers recruited this way.

Fairhurst has urged the prison service to return to face-to-face interviews, arguing that six weeks of training is insufficient for recruits to manage prisoners effectively.

Headline

Peru Anti-government Protesters Clash With Police

Published

18 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

Hundreds of anti-government protesters clashed with police in the Peruvian capital Lima on Saturday, throwing stones and sticks as officers fired tear gas on the demonstrators, AFP journalists reported.

The protest, organized by a youth collective called “Generation Z”, is part of growing social unrest in Peru against organized crime, corruption in public office, and a recent pension reform.

“Today, there is less democracy than before. It’s getting worse… because of fear, because of extortion,” said 54-year-old protester Gladys, who declined to give her last name.

Around 500 people gathered in the city center, under heavy police presence.

“Congress has no credibility, it doesn’t even have the approval of the people… It is wreaking havoc in this country,” said protester Celene Amasifuen.

The clashes broke out as demonstrators tried to approach executive and congressional buildings in Lima.

The radio station Exitosa said that its reporter and a cameraman were hit by pellets, commonly fired by law enforcement.

Police said at least three officers were wounded.

Approval ratings for President Dina Boluarte, whose term ends next year, have plummeted amid rising extortion and organized crime cases.

Several opinion polls show the government and conservative-majority Congress are seen by many as corrupt institutions.

This week, the legislature passed a law requiring young adults to join a private pension fund, despite many facing a precarious working environment.

AFP

Headline

Fresh World Trouble Looms As Netanyahu Tells Western Leaders ‘There Will Be No Palestinian State’

Published

18 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said there would be no Palestinian state, in a message addressed to the leaders of Britain, Australia and Canada after they recognised Palestinian statehood.

“I have a clear message for those leaders who recognise a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre on October 7: you are granting a huge reward to terror,” he said.

“And I have another message for you: it will not happen. No Palestinian state will be established west of the Jordan River.”

Britain, Australia and Canada on Sunday became the first tripartite Western nations to recognise a Palestinian state.

Britain and Canada became the first G7 countries to take the step, with France and other nations expected to follow at the annual UN General Assembly, which opens Monday in New York.

“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a message on X.

“Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on X.

This comes after decades of requests for sovereignty from the Palestinian side.

Portugal was also to recognise Palestinian statehood later Sunday, as Israel came under huge international pressure over the war in Gaza triggered almost two years ago by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Headline

Badenoch Slams UK’s Palestine Recognition Decision As ‘Absolutely Disastrous’

Published

19 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch condemned the Prime Minister Keir Starmer-led United Kingdom’s decision to formally recognise the State of Palestine.

PUNCH Online reports that Britain, alongside Australia and Canada, on Sunday recognised a Palestinian state in a seismic shift in decades of Western foreign policy.

Britain and Canada became the first G7 countries to take the step, with France and other nations expected to follow at the annual UN General Assembly, which opens Monday in New York.

However, the decision triggered swift Israeli anger and condemnation from the opposition.

Reacting in a statement on her X on Sunday, Badenoch described the move as “absolutely disastrous.”

She argued the move rewards terrorism with no conditions, and the decision would be widely regretted.

She said, “Absolutely disastrous. We will all rue the day this decision was made. Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas.

“It leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war.”

The Winchester opposition leader accused Labour of pandering to its “hard left” rather than fixing Britain’s pressing domestic problems.

“It is because Labour cannot fix the big problems in our society that they focus on discredited student union campaigns to appease the hard left.”

Listing examples of Labour’s failings, she said, “They cannot fix the NHS, so they push assisted suicide. – They cannot create jobs for young people, so they give them votes at 16.

“They cannot sort out immigration, but they will recognise Palestine instead. And so on. This is the same man who paid £35bn of reparations to Mauritius along with the surrender of the Chagos islands.”

Badenoch also criticised what she described as the prime minister’s lack of judgment.

“Everything we are seeing is a consequence of a Prime Minister who has no plan for the country and no judgment.

“He will spend the next four years delivering the hobbyhorses of the Labour left to stay in power and leave a HUGE mess for us to clean up.”

Earlier, Starmer announced the recognition of Palestine in a post on X, saying the move was intended to provide a two-state solution.

He said, “Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine.”