Reunion Wire

The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Ogun State Chapter, on Sunday emphasised the need to combat trafficking in persons by addressing its root causes and tackling the systemic factors that allow it to flourish.

Mrs Taiwo Olusesi, Chairperson, FIDA Ogun Chapter, said this in a statement to commemorate the 2023 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons with theme: “Reach Every Victim of Trafficking, Leave no One Behind”.

The News Agency of Nigeria NAN reports that the United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, which holds on July 30 every year was first observed in 2014.

It was enacted to educate people and nations on the scourge of human trafficking, the plight of victims and their relations, the need to protect and preserve the rights of such victims, and ultimately, the urgent interventions required to put an and to incidents of human trafficking.

Olusesi stated that addressing trafficking in person required collaboration, cooperation, and a multi-faceted approach involving governments, law enforcement agencies, civil society organisations, and individuals.

She noted that the annual event was a solemn occasion that brought to remembrance the grave injustices perpetrated against fellow human beings.

She said the day called for reflection, action, and a united commitment to eradicate this heinous crime from the world.

The FIDA Ogun Chairperson, acknowledging the presence of human trafficking within close communities, said it was our duty to expose it, to confront it head-on, and to bring those responsible to justice.

She said : “We `Leave People Behind’ when we fail to play our part in putting an end to exploitation, refuse to support victim-survivors and their affected families, and leave individuals and groups vulnerable to traffickers and trafficking.

“We must recognise that human trafficking is not an isolated issue.

“It is intertwined with global economic crises, poverty, inequality, gender discrimination, socio-economic inequalities and other social injustices that have left several communities and nations vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers and their sponsors.

“Human trafficking; a modern-day form of slavery, preys upon the vulnerability of individuals, exploiting their hopes, dreams, and aspirations.

“It knows no boundaries, affecting men, women, and children from every corner of the globe and is an affront to our shared humanity and an assault on the principles of justice and equality.

“In line with the theme of the 2023 World Day Against Trafficking in Person, we stand together to raise awareness, to amplify the voices of survivors, and to shine a light on the dark corners where this evil thrives,” she said.

Olusesi said education and awareness were powerful weapons in the battle against human trafficking.

She said that by educating ourselves and others, we empower communities to recognise the signs of human trafficking, to protect the vulnerable, and to report suspicious activities.

“We must also work tirelessly to dismantle the networks that facilitate trafficking, disrupt the illicit trade, and bring traffickers to justice.

“This necessitates strengthening legal frameworks, enhancing international cooperation, and providing comprehensive support to survivors.

“We stand in solidarity with survivors, offering them our unwavering support, compassion, and a pathway to healing and rebuilding their lives.

On this World Day Against Human Trafficking, let us reaffirm our commitment to justice, equality, and the inherent worth of every human being,” she said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

A Civil Society Organisation, Save Nigeria Movement (SNM), said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should compensate Nigerians with two trillion Naira for losses during the naira redesign by the suspended Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

The group said this in a letter to the CBN dated July 6 through its legal representative, Sorkaa & Associates.

The group said the amount represents one trillion naira compensation for Nigerians with bank accounts and another one trillion naira for those without bank accounts.

The group warned that it would take legal action if the apex bank failed to act within 30 days of their notice.

“We have been briefed by Save Nigeria Movement (SNM), a Non-Governmental Organisation (hereinafter referred to as ‘our client’), and our legal services retained.

“The brief of our client reveals that the CBN Naira Redesign Policy introduced in December 2022 to expire in February 2023 brought enormous hardship to Nigerians as attested by the former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

“President Bola Tinubu faulted the suspended Governor of CBN for harshly implementing the Naira redesign policy, stating that there are many Nigerians that suffered within the implementation of the policy.

“The brief of our client further reveals that the Governor’s court case against the CBN at the Supreme Court, which they won, ordered that the new and old naira notes remain legal tender until Dec. 31, 2023.

“This confirmed the illegality of the CBN’s entire policy.

“We hereby demand on behalf of our client the immediate payment of one trillion naira only as compensation to every Nigerian with a bank account who suffered from the economic terrorism of the suspended CBN Governor.

“We hereby also demand on behalf of our client the immediate payment of one trillion naira only as compensation to every Nigerian without a bank account who suffered from the economic terrorism of the suspended CBN Governor.

“Take note that should you fail or refuse to meet the demands of our legal correspondence upon receipt within the next seven days, that is counting from July 6 when we sent the letter, we will not hesitate to take legal steps forthwith without recourse to you.

“Remember, a stitch in time saves nine; please act wisely and pay compensation to Nigerians who had bank accounts and those who did not have bank accounts,” the group said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

KPMG Nigeria, a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services and the African Clean-up Initiative (ACI), have restated their commitments to environmental sustainability.

They expressed the commitment on the sideline of a clean-up exercise at Oniru Beach, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Mr Uzodinma Nwankwo, Partner with KPMG Professional Services Nigeria, said KPMG’s journey to environmental sustainability and governance had been two years old.

Nwankwo said that in recent years businesses had realised the need to assess the impact of their activities on the environment and to initiate needed changes.

“That is why Environment, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) have become a big thing for us at KPMG.

“We in KPMG, as part of connecting to that global journey have come up with our impact plan; that is our channel through which we are driving our strategy commitment toward the ESG.

“There are four pillars: Planet, People, Prosperity and Governance.

“I am specifically responsible for leading the planet pillar, and the planet pillar is looking at what we are doing in ensuring the sustainability of the environment for future generations.

“This has been a two year journey and we are looking at the future; it is a long-term journey toward 2030 and beyond,” Nwankwo said.

He said the ESG agenda is built on the decarbonisation strategy, nature, biodiversity and stakeholder engagement and ensuring that KPMG is engages the participation of clients.

He said KPMG was going beyond rendering financial services to speaking to their clients about the sustainability agenda and reporting requirements.

Nwankwo said companies were now required to report on what they were doing about environmental sustainability.

He said that the Oniru Beach clean-up exercise was one in the series of activities embarked by KPMG over a couple of months to ensure a sustainable environment.

“We joined the international community to mark the World Environment Day 2023 on June 5 with the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution.”

“On June 8, World Ocean Day, was marked by the global community reminding everyone of the increasingly negative impact of activities on the ocean, and that one of the greatest pollutants is plastic.

“On July 3 was the International Plastic Day; so you can see that there is an emphasis on plastic pollution.

“We at KPMG believe the solution to this problem requires collaboration; that is why our people decided to partner with the ACI to embark on this clean–up activity here at Oniru Beach.

“It is a statement of intent that we have started taking measureable action and steps towards being the change that we want to see,” Nwankwo said.

He said plastics are among the significant inventions of the 20th century with 150 million tonnes produced every year, which averages one million tonnes of plastics introduced daily into the environment.

He said that as useful as plastics were, they had become a problem in the ecosystem with only nine per cent of plastics ever produced recycled and 79 per cent ending up in landfills.

Nwankwo said eight million tonnes of plastics end up in the ocean and at the rate they were being mishandled, it was projected that there would be more plastics in the sea than fishes.

He lamented that most marine life inject these plastics, taking them for jelly fish or prey which builds up toxins in the fishes which humans ultimately consume.

He linked the proliferation of cancers in humans to consumption of toxic fishes which had plastics as food.

“At KPMG, we want to be part of the solution and not the problem in the environment.

“We want to advocate changes in lifestyle around reuse, reduce and recycling of plastics,” Nwankwo said.

Mr Shedrack Bright, the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager for ACI, said the clean-up exercise at Oniru Beach was to sensitise the people on environmental sustainability.

Bright said that there was the need to entrench the values of sorting and waste separation at the beach.

He said that the ACI was excited at the partnership with KPMG which was in furtherance of their Cooperate Social Responsibility.

Blessing Onyelekwe, Partnership and Engagement Manager for ACI, said that ACI is the implementing partner for the KPMG Oniru Beach clean-up

Onyelekwe said that KPMG, having seen the impact of ACI on the environment, came onboard to partner with them on environmental sustainability.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The St. John’s Apostolic Faith Mission Church (SJAFM) has been rebranded and re-named to Father Tjijombo St.John’s Mission Church on Friday.

The rebranding was done in honour of the Founder of the SJAFM Church and the late Archbishop Petrus Tjijombo who established the church in 1960.

Speaking at the rebranding and renaming ceremony, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Jenelly Matundu stated that the congregation was witnessing a milestone in the history of the St.John’s church as it was renamed.

“We are renaming the Church Archbishop has worked for his whole lifetime. It is really unfortunate that today we are unable to witness the smile that could have been on his face and listen to his acceptance speech as he accepts the honour of being named after the Church in which he spent his whole life,” she said.

Speaking to Nampa on the sideline of the event, the late Archbishop’s nephew and politician Mike Kavekotora, said there is no one who can fully take up his (Archbishop’s) place as he was a giant.

Tjijombo, he said has left a ‘legendary spiritual legacy as well as motivation to the church congregation and to his family’.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

A 72-year-old Namibian male reportedly committed suicide on Friday at Otjikango Ekwenje Village (Okondjatu settlement) in the Otjozondjupa Region.

The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) crime report on Sunday, indicated that the deceased’s body was found hanging under a tree with a wire around his neck some few meters from his house.

“According to the family members, the deceased was left home alone, at the time of the incident,” it read.

The body was transported to Okakarara State Hospital, where it will be further taken to the Otjiwarongo police mortuary for a postmortem.

There was no suicide note found and the next of kin have been informed.

In a similar incident, 41-year-old Eugene Izaaks committed suicide at Rehoboth’s block D, in the Hardap Region, when he shot himself with his own rifle under the chin and died on the spot.

The incident happened at about 01h30, after an alleged argument with his wife.

No suicide note was found.

In an unrelated event, a 23-year-old male was arrested at the Donkerhoek location in Aranos, Hardap region, for reportedly being in possession of 28 bags of cannabis (35 grams) with a total value of N.dollar 1750 00.

According to NamPol, the suspect was apprehended at about 04h05 on Saturday during the police’s routine search.

Police investigations in all matters continue.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Police in the Kavango East Region discovered the body of a 26-year-old woman hanging from a tree with a cloth around her neck near Mabiye Beach along the Kavango River on Saturday morning.

The Namibia Police Force in its weekend crime briefing report issued on Sunday, said the deceased has been identified as Ndara Evelyn Mbava.

The police found a suicide note at the scene however its contents of it cannot be revealed.

Her next of kin have been informed.

In an unrelated incident, an on-duty security guard allegedly shot a 17-year-old male student near VIP Bar in Kehemu informal settlement in Rundu on Saturday.

It is reported that the security guard was responding to a robbery incident at the bar when the victim allegedly took out a knife in an attempt to stab the guard. He (victim) allegedly then ran to a house next to the bar, and in the process, the guard shot and injured the victim with a shotgun on the hip.

The victim is admitted in the Rundu State Hospital, and his condition is stable.

The guard employed by Tulimo Security was arrested for attempted murder and discharging of a firearm in a public area.

Police investigations into the matter continue.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency