The act criminalises all forms of discrimination against people living with disabilities in the country and enforces their rights and privileges to education, healthcare, priority in accommodation and emergencies.
It prohibits discrimination against the physically challenged in public transportation facilities, including seaports, railways and airports, and compels service providers to make adequate provisions for them.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, on Friday denounced the “high human cost”, of the recent unrest in Ecuador and urged all actors in the South American country to engage in dialogue to prevent new conflicts and forge an inclusive society “with full respect for its multicultural nature”.
Ms. Bachelet also said that after reviewing the information she has received from a UN Office of Human Rights (OHCHR) mission dispatched to the from 21 October to 8 November, there was a need for an independent, impartial and transparent investigations into allegations of human rights violations and abuses committed during the protests from 3 to 13 October.
On the findings of the OHCHR investigative team, Ms. Bachelet that according to the data collected, during the 11 days of social unrest (from October 3 to 13), at least nine people died and 1,507 were injured, including 435 members of the security forces. The number of detainees amounted to 1,382. There are allegations that many of these people were arbitrarily detained.
#Ecuador: UN Human Rights Chief urges dialogue to prevent conflict & create an inclusive society. @mbachelet also calls for independent, impartial & transparent investigations into allegations of #HumanRights violations committed during the protests
“Last month’s unrest had a high human cost,” the High Commissioner said. “People should be able to express their grievances without fear of being hurt or arrested. At the same time, it is important that protestors do not resort to violence.”
According to OHCHR, the team received reports from victims and witnesses of use of force by law enforcement officials that was not in conformity with international norms and standards, including unnecessary and disproportionate use of force. Law enforcement officials included the police and the military, which was deployed following the declaration of a state of exception.
Victims and witnesses informed the team that teargas and pellet rounds were regularly shot by the security officers directly at the protesters at very close range, causing hundreds of injuries, and possibly some of the deaths.
While acknowledging that the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Police have opened 17 and 31 investigations respectively, Ms. Bachelet stressed the importance of investigating the circumstances of all deaths and serious injuries. She added that it is imperative that the internal protocols regarding the use of force for law enforcement officials are reviewed and that the authorities ensure they comply with international standards.
Regarding the triggers of the crisis, the UN Human Rights Office strongly recommends that the Government promote a participatory approach to decision-making, ensuring the enjoyment by people of their right to participate in public affairs.
Such a strategy of participation should be extended to economic and fiscal measures – including on proposals of austerity measures – and especially with the communities likely to be worst affected. This, Ms. Bachelet said, would be in line with the view of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recommended that Ecuador ensure that any economic decisions affecting people should be taken in a transparent manner and in consultation with the affected population.
The historical and persistent discrimination against indigenous peoples should also be a matter of concern and priority for the Government. The High Commissioner urged the authorities to do their outmost to identify effective measures to deal with this problem, and to recognize that it is a barrier to overcoming structural economic inequalities.
“Social and economic inequality remains a structural barrier for development for vast sectors of society, who have felt left behind for generations and do not see positive prospects for the future,” Ms. Bachelet said.
“It is of paramount importance that society as a whole, with the Government as a guiding force, embark together in search of paths of mutual understanding with the aim of constructing an inclusive, multicultural and peaceful society.”
According to Nation Online, Speaking to newsmen at a media parley, the National Public Relations Officer, NANS, Comrade Azeez Adeyemi said, “It was important to note that as students, we are not unaware of possible international politics that might be targeted at the CEO of Air Peace especially after giving back to his country by bringing hundreds of Nigerian home free of charge, rescuing them from the hands of animals in South Africa.”He further noted that although the Air Peace boss said he had never laundered any money, adding that he transferred his money for purchase of the aircraft through the Central Bank of Nigeria, he has also called on the American government to contact the receiver of the fund which is an American company, since the company is still in business.
He, however, said that the travails of Mr Onyema will not deter them from identifying and appreciating philanthropists, especially lovers of students.
In a related development, the students body also lauded the humanitarian services being rendered by various people, noting that someone like Dr. Teniola Adesanya, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Group, who recently bailed out over 85 students and saving them from dropping out of school, was worthy of emulation.
The high point of the occasion was the conferment of award of Youth Ambassador on Dr. Teniola Adesanya in recognition of his outstanding philanthropic gesture over the years.
A French court sentenced 24 members of a Lyon-based sex trafficking ring to prison terms of up to seven years for forcing Nigerian women into prostitution.
Nearly all of the defendants were themselves Nigerian, in the latest case to highlight the growing use of African migrants in the European sex trade.
According to AIT NEWS Online, They include one of Europe’s most wanted women, Jessica Edosomwan, accused of acting as a France-based “madam” to women recruited mainly in Nigeria’s southern Edo State.
Edosomwan was tried in absentia.
Nigeria was the main country of origin for the tens of thousands of migrants who crossed the Mediterranean to Europe by boat in 2016 and 2017.
Many were women and girls lured to Europe with false promises of jobs as hairdressers or seamstresses, only to find themselves selling sex to repay their smugglers.
Seventeen women filed complaints against the defendants but none of the victims attended the trial, with the exception of one former sex worker who found herself in the dock for luring another woman into the trade.
The accused had faced up to 10 years’ imprisonment on charges including human trafficking, pimping, money laundering and helping people live illegally in France.
Prosecutors estimated that the victims, aged 17 to 38, made up to $166 000 a month for the syndicate by selling sex in vans parked by the side of the road for as little as 10 euros.
A French mechanic who looked after the vans was among the 24 defendants.
Last year, 15 members of a Paris-based, female-led pimping ring known as the “Authentic Sisters” – many themselves former trafficking victims – were jailed for up to 11 years for forcing girls into slavery in France.
Similar gangs have also been dismantled in Italy and Britain.
The UN estimates that 80 per cent of young Nigerian women arriving in Italy – usually their first port of call in Europe – are already in the clutches of prostitution networks, or quickly fall under their control.
Most of the women come from Nigeria’s Benin City, a human trafficking hotbed.
Many told investigators they had taken part in “juju” or black magic rituals before leaving Nigeria, during which they had to promise to repay the money for their passage to Europe.
ASUU Chairman, University of Abuja branch, Dr. Kassim Umaru, raised the query while puncturing the insistence of the Federal Government that its members must enrol on the platform.
In a statement on Saturday, Umaru dismissed the payment system as a scam and said ASUU members will not join it.
The Office of Accountant-General of the Federation said that data of university workers and colleges of education be captured on the system between Monday November 25 and December 7.
Umaru said the National Executive Council of ASUU had a meeting and directed its members not to enrol, adding that the chapter will comply with the order from the national body.
Umaru argued that the payroll system is totally in violation of university autonomy and does not have any legal backing.
He faulted the government for resorting to threats whenever there was disagreement between the union and government.
Umaru urged the government to come to the table and discuss with the union instead of threatening to stop their salaries.
“As far as we are concerned in the union, we have worked and we must be paid. Eventually, if the government decides to stop our salary then the NEC will reconsider the decision of the government then appropriate action will be taken,”
“There is massive corruption in IPPIS. Did government care to investigate IPPIS itself? We are saying why is CBN not in IPPIS? Why is NDIC not in IPPIS? Why is Federal Inland Revenue not in IPPIS? But the lecturers who are just collecting stipends to be pulled into IPPIS so that our legal entitlement will not be paid.
“We are not going to allow it. We are not going to be part of the staff that are going to be enrolled in IPPIS. We took a resolution and we are reaffirming the direction of the national, that is NEC. NEC took a decision that we are not going to get enrolled into IPPIS and you know what our union is actually against is that the university has an autonomy and if you look at it clearly, this autonomy we are saying is enshrined in Section 2AA of the University Miscellaneous Provision Amendment Act of 2003 which clearly explained the role of the Governing Council.
“Even the Miscellaneous Act we are saying clearly stated that the power of the council shall be exercised as in the law and that status of each university. So it is clear we have an autonomy. Again, university is the peculiar nature of the appointment of university as academics. Our 2009 agreement which was negotiated by the federal government and our union is also there. So many issues are there and that is why our union is saying we should be allowed to produce a template which will have all these series of issues but not to have a center point of payment.”
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