Torture: As it is in Nigeria, so it is across the world

Throughout Nigeria and other countries, torturing citizens is becoming a widespread way of controlling citizens. UN statistics report that 120 countries use torture as a device of obtaining information and running the country and in Nigeria alone, 2,000 people report torture cases each year. Torture in Africa is particularly violent, with victims having limbs chopped off or doused in acid or burned. In Nigeria, civil liberty groups have called for an abolition of the use of torture by security agencies. Ibechukwu Ezike, the director of the Civil Liberties Organization, claims that the “police are the guiltiest of using torture on suspects.” The National Law Enforcement Agency of Nigeria denied this saying they only “gather information through intelligence.” Agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission say that they use polygraphs, MRIs, Electroencephalographs, and truth drugs (sodium thiopental).

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Even though agencies deny that they don’t use torture as a way to acquire information from suspects, I highly doubt this. There have been too many reports of torture by law enforcement agencies. This relates to what we have been learning in class because it shows the power that the government has over citizens and their rights. Nigeria is corrupt violence, but there are groups working to abolish torture practices by security agencies.

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Swiss hold '$150m Nigeria bribes'

U.S. investigators have traced 150 million dollars in bribes given to Nigerian officials to Swiss Banks. Michael Kase Aondoakaa said that the 150 million dollars was part of $180m in bribes given to Nigerian officials by the US construction company, Halliburton. The Nigerian government has asked the US to release the names of the Nigerian officials accused of negotiating bribes. The scandal occured between 1994 and 2004, when Haliburton admitted to paying bribes to Nigerian officials.

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This article illustrates some of the corruption-related problems that Nigeria has and is facing. Nigerian officials have encountered some pressures from the media to process what US courts have found, and to prosecute the Nigerian officials who had taken bribes. Corruption is an ongoing problem that Nigeria must learn how to stop.

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Airports Authority Grounds Airlines

Fresh off the heels of a threatened strike by engineers a few weeks ago, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) refused to allow certain airlines to depart from the country's airports until they paid their debts, totaling 8 billion Nigerian dollars, to the agency. An ultimatum was issued to the indebted airlines, which included Arik Air, Virgin Nigeria, and IRS airlines, on Friday, but the airlines apparently chose to wait until after the deadline to see what the FAAN would do. So when the agency made good of its threat and suspended flights, hundreds of unsuspecting passengers were stranded in airports until the airlines paid the debt later that afternoon.

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This article demostrates the uncertainty of government legitimacy in Nigeria. The fact that the airlines were readily able to pay off their debts but waited to see what the FAAN would do shows that the companies did not expect the government to be true to its word. It also shows the corruption inherent in Nigeria's business world as the airlines stranded hundreds of people in taking a chance to avoid paying a debt.

UK arrest in Nigerian bribe case

A federal grand jury in Texas has charged Jeffrey Tesler with helping to channel money from kellogg, brown and root, a former Halliburton subsidiary. It is thought that he was involved in moving millions of dollars in bribes to Nigerian officials to win contracts for an American construcion firm. He was arrested at a business adress in Tottenham, North London, on Thursday. He is alleged to have channelled money to Nigerian officials in order to obtain contracts valued at more than $6bn.

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This article relates to the internal political issues working against Nigeria. The article states that the bribes described involved Nigerian officials. Corruption in Nigeria has become a frequent and well publicized problem that has plagued the country.

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EU to Boost Aid

The EU recently announced that it will be increasing the amount of aid it sends to Nigeria from 450 million to 580 million euros. a senior European official said that the increase of cash is meant to support Nigeria's security forces as they combat armed groups, such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), that are attempting to disrupt oil trade and industry. According to reports, the money will, for the first time, fund the training of Nigerian police and security forces opperating within Nigeria and abroad in places like Somalia as part of peacekeeping missions. The situation may present complications, however, as European citizens complain of sending money necessary for their own countries' recovery from the worldwide economic recession to a country notorious for rampant corruption and as armed groups like MEND threaten to attack the business interests of any country that interferes with the group's opperation.

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This article demonstrates the interconnectedness of the modern political and economic world. Europe is willing to send millions of euros to an incredibly corrupt country that may not be able to account for how the money is used. European politicians must see something gain economically by making this move, and it is safe to assume that it has to do with oil. Whether this gamble pays off will become apparent in the coming years.

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