Health
UN catalogues ‘unimaginable horrors’ faced by Nigerians in Libya
Libya: Nigerians in slavery and torture camp
The United Nations has released a new report, which detailed the unimaginable horrors Nigerian migrants were being subjected from the moment they entered Libya and throughout their stay in that country.
The report, released by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), also showed the horrors of attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
Entitled: ‘Desperate and Dangerous: Report on the human rights situation of migrants and refugees in Libya’, it detailed the horrific conditions Nigerian migrants and refugees faced during their transit through and stay in Libya.
The findings were based on first-hand accounts gathered by UN human rights staff from Nigerian migrants in Libya, those who had returned to Nigeria, and Nigerians who managed to reach Italy.
The report covered 20-months up till August 2018, detailing a terrible litany of violations and abuses committed by a range of state officials, armed groups, smugglers and traffickers against migrants and refugees.
The accounts of the Nigerian migrants were mostly those of woes ranging from unlawful killings to gang rape, prostitution, arbitrary detention, torture and inhumane treatment, unpaid wages, slavery, human trafficking, racism and xenophobia.
Libyan law criminalises irregular entry into, stay in or exit from the country with a penalty of imprisonment pending deportation, without any consideration of individual circumstances or protection needs.
For instance, a 27-year-old man from Nigeria, who was held in captivity in Sabratah between May and October 2017, gave an account of death penalty in Libya.
He described witnessing a migrant being shot by a “drunk guard for no apparent reason”, and another being shot point blank over a disagreement about a sim card.
A Nigerian woman who had returned home in December 2017, gave account of rape, forced prostitution and other sexual violence.
“To be sold and forced to have sex with Arab or African men either to pay for the journey or to extract your money is a common thing to happen to you as a woman or a girl, all over the journey from day one in the desert until you depart Libya.”
A woman from Nigeria who arrived in Italy in April 2018 recounted being raped consecutively by four men, about three times a week, while held at a site in Sabha.
She described how five men would enter detainees’ cells together and concurrently rape five women.
When she arrived in Libya, she was in the early stages of pregnancy and suffered a miscarriage, she believed, as a result of rape.
She claimed that when women died at the facility, guards would just shrug and remove the bodies.
Women and girls were compelled to engage in sexual acts against their will and were under the absolute power and control of their captors, the Nigerian migrants recounted.
“In particular, Nigerian women and girls appear to be vulnerable to trafficking by multinational criminal networks in their countries of origin.
“They embark on their journeys believing office work awaits them in Europe but find themselves in so-called “connection houses” (“brothels”) in Libya,” the report stated.
A 22-year-old Nigerian woman, who was forcibly taken to a “connection house” in Tripoli’s Gergaresh neighbourhood shortly after arriving to Libya, was given a “choice” of either paying a “debt” of 24,000 Libyan dinars (then about $28,000) to her traffickers or engaging in sexual activities.
She was forced into the second option for nearly one year until the “connection house” was raided by a Tripoli-based armed group in early 2017.
She described the “connection house” as several three-bedroom flats, where an estimated 100 Nigerian women and girls aged between 15 and 22 shared rooms, using a curtain as a partition when engaged with “clients”.
The women were never allowed to leave the “connection house” or to make contact with the outside world; they had to endure being raped by up to 20 men a day.
They were not given any contraception, and several consequently got pregnant and forced to pay for dangerous abortions carried out at the “connection house”.
As they were not allowed to keep any money in their possession and therefore unable to make payments directly, their “debts” were increased instead.
The woman described seeing another victim bleed to death following an abortion.
A 19-year-old girl from Nigeria promised domestic work by her traffickers found herself in a “connection house, recounted her shock.
“At first, I refused to work. But if girls refused to work, they – connection house management and guards – would kill you or rape you and do anything they wanted to you.
“I had to stay there for nearly a year, until I paid my debt of 1.3 million Naira ($3,500),” she said.
Apparently due to her inability to pay a ransom, a 20-year-old Nigerian woman was forcibly transferred by smugglers/traffickers from a facility where she had spent one month to a “connection house” for one year and a half until March 2018.
She reported being beaten at the “connection house” in Sabha for initially refusing to engage in sex work.
As in “connection houses” in Tripoli, women and girls as young as 15 reportedly worked and slept at the facility, where they were locked up for the duration of their stay.
They were forced to receive several clients – up to 10 – per day under threat of beatings and other abuse. She reported suffering a miscarriage and not receiving any medical treatment.
A 23-year-old woman from Nigeria intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) off the coast of Zuwara in January 2017 recalled the panic caused when members of the LCG jumped onto their dinghy and shot in the air.
Some migrants and/or refugees were reportedly beaten with hoses and the back of rifles for refusing to point out the “captain” – or individual steering the boat – to the LCG.
A group of Nigerian men, detained at the Zuwara detention centre for two months following interception at sea in January 2018, described being beaten with water pipes and given electric shocks daily.
They also described detainees being locked up in the refrigerated back of a van used to transport perishable food as punishment.
A Nigerian man, who had lived and worked in Libya for 18 years, spent over one year held in the Mitiga detention centre without charge or trial after being handed over to SDF by armed men who kidnapped him in the street and collected a ransom from his wife.
In April 2017, he and dozens of other migrants were transferred from Mitiga detention centre to the DCIM detention centre at Tarik al-Sikka. He was deported in December 2017 for being in the country illegally.
He had no opportunity to explain that his residence had lapsed because he had been in detention. While held at the Mitiga detention centre, he was forced to construct and paint prison cells.
He was also beaten, held in solitary confinement for six months, slept on cardboard and rags and was denied medical treatment and family visits.
A group of 16 Nigerian women arrested during house raids in Misrata in late August 2017 recounted being beaten with sticks and water pipes and being given electric shocks at a local police station, while being called “whores”.
They were then transferred to al-Jawiya Prison, apparently on accusations of prostitution and alcohol consumption.
Three women in the group suffered miscarriages in the subsequent two months, possibly due to beatings upon their arrest and medical neglect while in custody.
They were not taken to the hospital when their bleeding started. One of the women, seven-month pregnant at the time, added: “I was feeling very sick. My friends (cellmates) started banging at the door.
“They (prison administration) eventually took me downstairs to give me a drip (in the local clinic), but they refused to transfer me to the hospital. When I lost the baby, I had to flush it, together with the blood clots, down the toilet.”
A Nigerian woman described to UNSMIL how “Asma boys” (as migrants refer to criminals in Libya) broke into her house, searching for money.
They beat her even though she was visibly pregnant at the time; she showed UNSMIL a scar on her arm, which she claimed she sustained when she shielded her face from an incoming knife stab.
The report said: “Countless migrants and refugees lost their lives during captivity by smugglers after being shot, tortured to death or simply left to die from starvation or medical neglect.
“Across Libya, unidentified bodies of migrants and refugees bearing gunshot wounds, torture marks and burns are frequently uncovered in rubbish bins, dry river beds, farms and the desert.’’
Tens of thousands of young men and women have been returned from Libya by the Federal Government since 2017 through the Voluntary Humanitarian Returns programme of the International Organisation for Migration.
Dame Julie Okah-Donli, Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), said no fewer than 13,000 trafficked Nigerians had been rescued by the agency by March 2018.
“Some of them came back with all sorts of conditions – some treatable, some untreatable, some with hepatitis, HIV, some with full-blown AIDS,” she said, adding many of the victims have psychological problems.
“A lot of them come back mentally sick and so we have to refer them to the mental hospitals because they were traumatised, they’ve been beaten, raped and used,” she said.
Business
Nigeria To Receive $5.600,000 From Bill Gates, For Health And Agricultural Reforms, GMOs
Alongside the activities surrounding the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Vice President Kashim Shettima held a meeting with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation leading to the announcement of the donation by the Foundation’s head of Global Development.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is giving Nigeria through Vice President Kashim Shettima, a $5.600,000 funds to speedy up health and agricultural reforms in favour of the GMOs in Nigeria, and flood relief.
Through the Foundation’s head of Global Development Programme, Dr Christopher Elias, Bill Gates pledged $5 million grant approved for Lagos Business School and partners to develop the agricultural economics they called “industrial cassava” and $600,000 for flood relief in Borno State and other health sector initiatives.
Alongside the activities surrounding the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Vice President Kashim Shettima held a meeting with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation leading to the announcement of the donation by the Foundation’s head of Global Development.
Recall that on 4 September, Bill Gates had described the Nigeria’s economy as “stagnated” and proposed agricultural reforms for faster and increased growths in crops, fruits, vegetables amongst others to enhance nutritional values of the Nigerian citizens through the agricultural sector.
In that meeting Chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Bill gates urged Nigeria to adopt “innovative crop varieties with shorter growing periods, higher yields, and better pest resistance” pointing to the GMOs to address the food crisis.
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Moreover, at the 79th UN General Assembly in New York, VP Shettima reaffirmed to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the commitment of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu prioritizing health, nutrition, and agricultural development in Nigeria’s national agenda.
In a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima said: “we are deeply committed to addressing the pressing developmental challenges facing our nation, particularly the significant malnutrition crisis”.
He emphasised the Federal Government’s dedication and urgently working to secure locations for maize production under the Telemaze programme.
VP Shettima, promising swift action to the Gate’s Foundation on import permits for certified seeds, the VP said, “We recognize the critical importance of food security and industrial agricultural development. The Cassava Accelerator programme, in particular, holds immense potential for our economy.
“We are pursuing a whole-of-government approach to digitisation and data exchange systems, which we believe will revolutionise our public services,” he added while reiterating the government’s focus and commitment to digital transformation.
“With the expertise” of Nigeria’s ministers, “and the continued support of partners like the Gates Foundation,” the nation remains confident in its “ability to drive meaningful change and improve the lives of all Nigerians.”
In his response, President of the Global Development Programme at the Gates Foundation, Dr. Christopher Elias, said the Foundation is burdened with worries of the severe flooding in Borno, and is “committed to supporting Nigeria in times of crisis.”
Speaking of Polio, the Foundation said, “We’re impressed by the national task force’s efforts to eliminate variant polioviruses by year-end,” Dr. Elias noted.
Also, President of Global Growth & Opportunity Division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rodger Voorhies, detailed plans for scaling up drought-tolerant maize production and advancing the Nigeria Cassava Investment Accelerator programme emphasizing that a $5 million grant has been approved for Lagos Business School and partners to develop the agricultural economics of industrial cassava.
In his words, “Industrial cassava presents a multi-billion-dollar opportunity for Nigeria,” Voorhees stressed.
He requested import permits for 5,000 metric tons of certified GMO maize seed to build a foundation seed system in Nigeria.
Health
Health: Genotype And Compatibility, Phenotype, Blood Groups And DNA
Within the Rh and ABO blood group systems, there are 8 different phenotypes in human blood – A-Positive, B-Positive, A-Negative, B-Negative, AB-Positive, AB-Negative, O-Positive, and O-Negative.
Do you know your genotype and its compatibility, phenotype, blood group and your genetic health?
The genotype is the genetic makeup of an organism and the genetic makeup of an organism is coded for in its DNA, being the hereditary material of the cell.
Medical researches have revealed that the DNA of organisms is organized into sections that code for proteins which are called genes.
Understand that each gene has different versions and the specific version that an organism inherits is its genotype. It is the genotype of an organism that helps to control the phenotype, or the observable traits of that organism.
What are the examples of phenotypes? It include hair color (whether brown, black, blonde), eye color, or even microscopic traits such as which version of a protein is produced inside cells.
How Genotypes, Blood Groups And Phenotypes Are Inherited
Genotypes and blood groups are inherited from parents. There are about 41 types of blood groups according to ISBT in 2019, especially the Rh group and ABO systems.
Within the Rh and ABO blood group systems, there are 8 different phenotypes in human blood – A-Positive, B-Positive, A-Negative, B-Negative, AB-Positive, AB-Negative, O-Positive, and O-Negative.
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The genotype helps to indicate the protein type that is found in the red blood cells (RBCs). People who possess the genotypes SS and SC have sickle cell diseases and based on the type of haemoglobin found in the RBCs, human beings have about six genotypes namely: – AA, AC, AS, CC, SC, and SS.
DNA is the genetic material of the cell in human bodies which is arranged in order of sequences called genes.
Human genes come in different versions called alleles. Allele is one of two or more versions of DNA sequence at a particular genomic location.
Each individual inherits two alleles, one from each parent, for a particular genomic location where the type of variation exists. There are two copies of each gene in an individual and the specific combination of alleles which is inherited is called the genotype.
Study shows that alleles can also be dominant if they mask another allele, or recessive. If you inherit two dominant alleles (LL) your genotype is homozygous dominant. But if it is two recessive alleles (ll) your genotype is homozygous recessive.
In any case an individual inherits one of each allele (Ll) the genotype will be heterozygous.
What Are Differences Between Blood Group And Genotype?
The major difference between blood group and genotype is that blood group is what constitutes the different kinds of blood found in human beings, governed by different antigens found on the surface of the red blood cells (RBCs), while genotype forms the genetic constituency of cells in human beings.
Blood Group
It is important to know that the absence or presence of antibodies and inherited antigenic particles on the surface of the red blood cells (RBCs) leads to the classification of humans’ blood into different groups.
The following are the antigens based on the blood group system: Carbohydrates, proteins, and glycoproteins.
Also note that a few of these antigens are found on the surface of the other cell types of different tissues.
According to Study.com, “There are two main types of genotypes, heterozygous and homozygous. If an organism has a heterozygous genotype, this means they inherit two different versions of a gene. If an organism is homozygous for a gene, it means they inherit two of the same versions of the gene.”
As explained earlier, human beings can inherit a version of blood that produces A-type of blood, B-type of blood, or o-type of blood.
The Following Are Some Examples Of Heterozygous And Homozygous Genotypes
Heterozygous genotypes: Ao, AB, or Bo.
Homozygous genotypes for blood type: AA, BB, or oo.
Research shows that different genotypes produce different phenotypes depending on which version is dominant to the other.
Function Of Genotype And Compatibilities
Genotypes makes up for the genetic constitution of each individual.
Your genotype makes up for the entire heritable genetic identity you possess– the genes transferred from your parent to you, which you also transfer to your children, the children’s children throughout generations.
It is the red blood cells (RBCs) that is involved in determining the genotype of human beings.
Understanding the genotypes compatibilities can prevent the hardships caused by Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in relationships and families, ensuring healthier generations to come.
The genotypes compatibilities:
- AA + AA: No risk of Sickle Cell Disease
- AA + AS: Safe, but potential carrier of the sickle cell trait
- AS + AS: 25% risk of having a child with SCD
- AS + SS / SS + SS: High risk of having a child with SCD
| Blood group | Genotype |
| What are they? | |
| Refers to different human blood types determined by different antigens found on the surface of the RBCs | It makes up for the genetic makeup of a cell |
| Occurrence | |
| Found outside RBCs | Found in every cell |
| What is the phenotype? | |
| In humans, there are 8 phenotypes of blood groups – A-Positive, B-Positive, A-Negative, B-Negative, AB-Positive, AB-Negative, O-Positive, and O-Negative | In humans, there are 6 phenotypes – AA, AC, AS, CC, SC, and SS |
| How are they determined? | |
| By absence or presence of antigens on the surface of the RBCs | By amino acid sequences of haemoglobin in RBCs |
| What traits does it control? | |
| Governs traits of RBC type only | Governs all the characters that are observed |
| Example | |
| A type, O type, AB type, B type, etc | Height, hair colour, eye colour, etc. – those traits controlled by single genes |
Take the step today—know your genotype and secure a brighter future for yourself and your family.
Health
Bill Gates, Anthony Fauci and conspiracy theories (part 2)
In 2022, in the wake of COVID-19, researchers from Harvard University reported that a large percentage of public comments on YouTube revealed suspicions of a ‘Hidden Agenda’ surrounding Gates…
By Femi Olugbile
According to ‘Abigail’, a Nigeria YouTube blogger in a trending video clip, the ‘296’ Nigerian girls who were abducted by Boko Haram fighters a few years ago were ‘stolen’ as part of a sinister plot. She tells a hair-raising story of how Bill Gates, the world’s leading philanthropist, is behind the abductions.
The purpose, according to “Abigail”, is an ongoing scheme to clone human organs for rich white people by inserting cells from their diseased organs into an egg from a woman’s ovary. The implant would grow into an organ which could then be surgically used to replace the diseased organ. The industry is potentially worth ‘thirty trillion dollars.’ It would require an endless supply of ovaries, and Nigerian girls are the main targets.
‘Abigail’ is not the only person who is distrustful of Mr Bill Gates.
The ‘retired’ co-founder of Microsoft has the dubious distinction of being, not just the most ‘generous’ man in the world, but also the most vilified man on the planet.
In 2022, in the wake of COVID-19, researchers from Harvard University reported that a large percentage of public comments on YouTube revealed suspicions of a ‘Hidden Agenda’ surrounding Gates, including his role in vaccine development and distribution, distrust concerning the supposed harmful effects of 5G network, and dark hints about the implantation of microchips in human beings.
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What is it about this man that attracts so much negativity, from a world citizenry that should be appreciative of his generosity?
It is a complicated matter.
Despite giving away so much, he continues to grow richer. With a private fortune of $138.6 billion and a Foundation worth $67 billion, some observers have noted unkindly that Gates’ total value is more than the GDP of most of the poor countries he is purporting to help.
Gates gave a Ted Talk in 2010 where he seemed to imply that the world’s population crisis could be reduced ‘if we do a really great job on new vaccines, healthcare, reproductive health services.’
He has since explained that he was merely stressing the point that with good healthcare, people would opt to have fewer children, knowing they would survive. But his words were taken as evidence of what later came to be known as ‘The Great Reset’, when rumour was rife that COVID-19 was engineered by Gates and ‘Global Elites’ to depopulate the world.
William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington, the only son of William. H. Gates Sr. and his first wife. Small and scrawny, he was bullied as a kid. At 13, he joined a prep school where he wrote his first software programme. In 1973, he enrolled at Harvard. He only stayed for two years, when he left to form Microsoft with a friend.
The rest, as they say, is history.
In 2010, he left Microsoft to dedicate himself to philanthropy.
From a psychologist’s perspective, Bill Gates appears to be an inventive genius who believes that by applying rational logic and limitless funds, he can help solve most of the world’s problems, from malaria, to hunger, to climate change. His reach is longer than many Heads of States, and his interests are everywhere.
The blowback is predictable to anyone who has heard the words of Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey’s famous song ‘The Horse, The Man, and His Son’ – about how no one could ever please all the world.
The whole culture of International Aid – Governmental, Agency or NGO, has a seamy undergirding of undue influence, and occasional subversion and corruption, no matter how originally well intended.
It is a truism that nobody can develop a nation, its institutions or its people better than the people themselves. That responsibility cannot be relinquished to any ‘AID’ group. No nation constructs a ‘Strategy’ for another nation. National Questions are for national leadership to ask and answer. Vaccination, including manufacture and decision on whether to deploy? Food production – natural seed only, or side-by-side with GMO?
“From a psychologist’s perspective, Bill Gates appears to be an inventive genius who believes that by applying rational logic and limitless funds, he can help solve most of the world’s problems, from malaria, to hunger, to climate change.”
Strategic Thinking is the ultimate National Security priority, even if Africa is falling down on it currently.
The one suspicion that is not bogus or easy to bat away from Gates’ garment is the activity around ‘food security’ and ‘Climate Smart Agriculture’. Gates Foundation is a facilitator—there is no evidence it stands to profit—in an ongoing push to increase the presence—some say control—of the global seed market by a four-company ‘oligopoly’ (Bayer, Corteva, BASF, Syngenta).
‘GMO’ is a bogey word in Nigeria, true, but ‘improved seeds’ are already here, including tomatoes and other plants and fruits developed by local scientists at IITA, Ibadan, and various agricultural universities. At the same time, fear of ‘GMO’ is real among the public.
The proponents of the drive to ‘globalise food security solutions’ are not necessarily red-eyed monsters eager to starve Africans to death. Many genuinely believe it is the way for the world to go. They included Barack Obama as US President. And Kamala Harris pushed the same point during her official visit to Africa.
‘Improved seed technology’ is copyrighted, and a farmer could technically be jailed for sharing seeds he bought if proposed ‘international treaties’ are enforced. The intentions articulated by ‘Multilateral Organisations’ may be lofty. Or perhaps they are not; who knows? As Ghanaian and Guatemalan peasant farmers are pointing out, such decisions are not in the place of foreigners to make. They are for Ghanaians, and Guatemalans themselves.
No, Bill Gates is not a villain, at least not intentionally.
But the notion of ‘philanthropy’ on such a gargantuan, supranational, intrusive scale carries its own perils. It illustrates the fundamental inequity and unsustainability of the ‘World Economic Order’ and the enormous gulf between the rich and the powerless. People get conditioned to being spoon-fed, and African nations frighteningly seem ready to outsource the continuous strategic thinking required to solve problems and ensure the development and wellbeing of their people to foreign ‘do-gooders’.
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