Headline

Ukraine: 122,000 Nigerians, Others Protest Discrimination At Romanian, Hungarian, Polish Borders

Published

3 years ago

March 6, 2022

Editor

Over 122,000 Nigerians and other Africans have signed a petition on the discrimination against blacks who are attempting to exit Ukraine over the invasion of the Eastern European country by Russia.

As of 6 pm on Saturday, 122,732 persons had signed an online petition by a civil society organisation, Concerned Nigerians, titled ‘Stop discriminating, provide safe passages for Africans and People of Colour out of Ukraine.’

The petition, which was published by a global advocacy body, Change.Org, is to the Council of the European Union, European Commission, African Union, and the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Concerned Nigerians said, “Numerous African refugees mostly students in Ukraine are being prevented from leaving to safety as Russian strikes continue in the nation, according to individuals attempting to cross borders to neighbouring countries.

“Thousands of young African students mostly from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Somalia and other countries studying in Ukraine claim they have been abandoned, with some taking to Twitter in recent days to tell their stories of desertion.

“According to the students, certain locals are ‘prioritising’ Ukrainians, while black individuals face hostility or are refused passage at the border. On twitter, Ms. Sky said that under the present crisis, black people – particularly migrants – are more exposed to prejudice. ‘It is self-evident that we Africans are seen as lesser creatures,’ said Nze, a student who was forced to travel several hours to the Poland border. ‘The majority of Africans are still on their route to Lviv,’ he tweeted on Friday, beside a snapshot of the masses.

“The scenario has fuelled concern among observers within the worldwide African and Caribbean diasporas that, even during times of conflict, black people suffer worse than white people.”

The petition further read, “Another Nigerian medical student at the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing between Poland and Ukraine stated she had waited seven hours to cross and also that border guards were stopping and sending black individuals to the back of the line, claiming they had to allow ‘Ukrainians’ through first.

“Around 4,000 Nigerians are now studying in Ukraine, making up the country’s second-largest group of international students, after Moroccans, who account for 8,000 students. A number of Nigerian students and their families have gone to social media to express their worries about alleged racial discrimination by guards at crossings and security checkpoints, as well as a perceived lack of government assistance.”

Concerned Nigerians urged Africans to “sign this petition calling on Ukrainian border authorities to put an end to these discriminatory evacuation tactics and grant everyone access to safety across the border by any means available.”

The CSO said, “Our demands: We call on Ukrainian border authorities to stop the discrimination against Africans and other people of colour and ensure safe passage for Africans and other marginalised people into neighbouring countries.

“The African Union should issue a statement demanding the safety of Africans and arrange for airlifts of Africans in Ukraine or those that have fled to Poland and other countries. This is the time for them to rise up for Africa.

“Finally, the Nigerian Government must as a matter of urgency evacuate stranded Nigerian students in Ukraine and those that have fled to neighbouring countries.”

Concerned Nigerians further urged Africans to sign the petition “calling on Polish, Romanian and neighbouring Eastern European authorities to grant temporary asylum to African students fleeing Ukraine pending when they would be evacuated to their respective countries.

“We’re calling on Ukraine border authorities to be humane and everyone should be treated with dignity.”

The first batch of 450 Nigerians stranded in Ukraine returned home from Romania through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Friday.

The second batch of Nigerian 181 evacuees from Ukraine arrived in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, from Poland same day.

Nigerian airlines – Air Peace and Air Max – would transport stranded Nigerians from Romania, Hungary and Poland.

Air Peace left on Thursday to pick the passengers from Hungary.

The Federal Government gave all returnees from Ukraine $100 (about N48,000) to ameliorate their sufferings.

PUNCH.

Headline

Syrian Ex-leader Assad Faces War Crime Charges For Killing Journalists

Published

13 hours ago

September 2, 2025

Editor

French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and six other top former officials over the bombardment of a rebel-held city in 2012 that killed two journalists, lawyers said Tuesday.

Marie Colvin, 56, an American working for The Sunday Times of Britain, and French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, were killed on February 22, 2012, by the explosion in the eastern city of Homs, which is being investigated by the French judiciary as a potential crime against humanity as well as a war crime.

British photographer Paul Conroy, French reporter Edith Bouvier, and Syrian translator Wael Omar were wounded in the attack on the informal press centre where they had been working.

Assad escaped with his family to Russia after being ousted by Islamist rebels at the end of 2024, although his precise whereabouts have not been confirmed.

Other than Assad, the warrants notably target his brother Maher al-Assad, who was the de facto head of the 4th Syrian armoured division at the time, intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, and then-army chief of staff Ali Ayoub.

“The issuing of the seven arrest warrants is a decisive step that paves the way for a trial in France for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime,” said Clemence Bectarte, lawyer for the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Ochlik’s parents.

The FIDH said the journalists had clandestinely entered the besieged city to “document the crimes committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime” and were victims of a “targeted bombing”.

“The investigation clearly established that the attack on the informal press centre was part of the Syrian regime’s explicit intention to target foreign journalists to limit media coverage of its crimes and force them to leave the city and the country,” said Mazen Darwish, lawyer and director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).

Colvin was known for her fearless reporting and signature black eye patch, which she wore after losing sight in one eye in an explosion during Sri Lanka’s civil war. Her career was celebrated in a Golden Globe-nominated film, “A Private War”.

AFP

Headline

Ghana’s President Sacks Chief Justice Over Corruption Allegations

Published

1 day ago

September 1, 2025

Editor

President John Dramani Mahama has dismissed the Chief Justice of Ghana following the outcome of a high-level investigation into allegations of falsifying judicial records and misusing public funds.

A five-member commission, chaired by a Supreme Court judge and set up by Mahama, concluded that the allegations against the country’s top judicial officer were substantiated and recommended her removal.

“After considering the petition and the evidence, the Committee found that the grounds of stated misbehaviour under Article 146(1) had been established and recommended her removal from office,” said the spokesperson to the President, Felix Ofosu, in a statement on Monday.

“President John Dramani Mahama has accordingly removed the Chief Justice from office with immediate effect.”

The dismissal marks the first time a sitting Chief Justice in Ghana has been investigated and dismissed from office.

While Mahama, who took office in January, has repeatedly pledged to intensify the fight against corruption, it remains unclear whether the embattled Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo, will face criminal prosecution.

Headline

Danish Court Sentences Ex-minister To Prison For Child Abuse Material

Published

1 day ago

September 1, 2025

Editor

A former Danish government minister was jailed for four months on Monday for possession of thousands of images of child sexual abuse.

Henrik Sass Larsen, once a senior Social Democrat who served as industry minister, admitted to having more than 6,000 photographs and 2,000 videos on his computer depicting sexual abuse of children.

He had denied the charges, saying he had the material because he was trying to find out who had abused him as a child.

Prosecutor Maria Cingari said she was “satisfied” with the verdict but added that it was sad that someone “who managed to make the most out of their life despite a bad start finds himself in such a situation.”

“You should never be in possession of child pornography, no matter the reason,” Cingari added.

During his trial, the 59-year-old told the court he had received a link in 2018 to a 50-year-old video showing him being sexually abused when he was three years old.

He testified that he received another video clip in 2020, in which a three-year-old girl was raped in his presence when he was around the same age.

The two videos disappeared after he viewed them, he said.

He told the court he regretted not having contacted the police when he received the videos.

Sass Larsen was also accused of being in possession of a child sex doll, but the court did not find him guilty on that charge.

His lawyer, Berit Ernst, told reporters that “we’ll see if it is a definitive end or if we will appeal.”

The scandal came to light last March and led to his expulsion from the Social Democratic Party.

At the time, Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed her shock over the case.

AFP