Foreign
Canada-bound Nigerian assaulted by Togolese police, imprisoned
A Nigerian, simply identified as Oladimeji has narrated how he and his friend identified as Cosmos, were arrested in Togo and sent to prison without fair trial.
He said he and Cosmos were travelling to Canada and decided to first travel to Togo before flying to Canada having got information that it was cheaper to fly from Togo.
Oladimeji explained that trouble started on November 8, 2023, when they got to the airport and were at the airline stand when airport officials summoned them to inspect their travel documents.
In a long post he (Oladimeji) narrated to an X user with the username @Olumuyiwaayo, he explained that the airport officials alleged that they were travelling with fake visas and passports, adding that all their pleas fell on deaf ears.
According to him, the funniest part was that these airport officials were asking them for 600 dollars to bail themselves out.
He explained after they refused to pay the 600 dollars illegal bail fee, they were taken to the station and later sent to prison.
The post read, “Last year, on November 8, my friend Cosmas and I were traveling to Canada and decided to board from Togo due to the fact that we saw a cheaper flight from Togo. We got to Togo on the 6th of November and lodged in a hotel until the day of our flight. On getting to the airport, an unforeseen event happened.
“Before we got to the airline stand (Ethiopia Airlines), we were called by some of the airport officials. They asked us to show them our travel documents, which we did. They delayed us for hours to the point that we missed our flights, and they eventually said our visas were fake. They kept checking and couldn’t give evidence to back up their claims. We explained that we got our visas through an agent and explained the process by which we got the visas, but they proved adamant. After a series of arguments, they also came up with another claim that our passports were fake. At that point, we knew they hated us because we were Nigerians.
“Even if we were not sure about our visas, we were 100% sure of our passports because we went to the immigration office in Ilorin to obtain our passports, and we followed the right procedures we saw other people followed at the immigration office. The funniest part was that these airport officials were asking for 600 dollars to bail out ourselves. We refused, and they took us to the police station. We got to the police station that evening with the hope that they were taking us to the place where they would do a proper investigation.
“On getting to the police station, they locked us in the cell, but before we were eventually locked in the cell, we dragged with them, and we requested that they take us to the Nigerian Embassy in Togo so that they could verify all our documents most especially our passports, but the police refused. Rather, they beat us mercilessly and dragged us inside the cell. Our human rights were violated. They collected all our belongings and the 200 dollars that was with us.”
He explained that a friend who had escorted them to Togo later went to the Nigerian Embassy in Togo to report what transpired at the airport.
Oladimeji said, “Meanwhile, one of our friends in Nigeria escorted us to Togo to bid us farewell, so he saw all that happened and went straight to the Nigerian embassy in Togo the following day. God so good, two of the consulates came on our behalf and sent our passport details to Abuja for verification, and the result came back that our passports were original.
“These Togo police were so unprofessional, they were accusing us of using fake passports to travel while the report from the airport was fake passports and fake visas. After our embassy had verified our passports to be original and requested for our release, Togo police refused and locked us for five days. After five days, we were taken to the prison. We are presently in Togo prison as I type this message to you.
“I want people to learn from this. Togo is not a good country and they hate Nigerians so much. When we got to the prisons we met so many Nigerians here. In fact, the population of Nigerians in Togo prison is almost more than the Togolese citizens. Nigerians should avoid flying from Togo. Even if they would be transiting from Togo, they should avoid Togo airport.”
Reacting to the development, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, said that the agency was yet to be informed of such an incident.
Speaking with PUNCH Online on Thursday, NiDCOM spokesperson, Mr Abdulrahman Balogun, who explained that there is the possibility of such happened, urged those concerned or their family to report to the agency officially.
He said, “The case you mentioned is possible. There is a possibility because everybody (country) is cautious of their border and cautious of those entering their country because of security concerns globally.
“So, something must have happened and the person who such happened to or their family member should let us know the details and we then take it up from there and do our investigations.”
He also advised Nigerians travelling to other countries to do so with the necessary documents to avoid issues with officials of those countries.
“If someone is traveling without complete documents, such a person can be arrested. We have warned our citizens severally that when they are travelling, they should go with their legal documents. Travelling is your fundamental human right but when you are doing so, you should also equip yourself with the necessary documents.
“What I can say is that those involved or their families should write us formally. Somebody must inform us officially. When there is an issue, the people concerned are advised to write us officially.”
Reports say that in the last seven years, about 300 Nigerians have been murdered extrajudicially in foreign nations.
The majority of these individuals were killed by non-state actors for no just reasons.
In October, a Nigerian student identified only as Ikem, was allegedly murdered by a group of Chinese in the Republic of Phillipines.
PUNCH
A United States federal court has set August 21, 2026, as the deadline for the release of records linked to longstanding allegations concerning Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and U.S. financial accounts associated with him in the 1990s.
The records are being sought in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Aaron Greenspan, which has reportedly been before the federal courts for more than three years.
The documents are understood to be held by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The development followed a reported request by the DOJ for an additional 10 days to comply with an earlier court order requiring the release of the records.
According to Von Batten, a Washington, D.C.-based Republican lobbying firm, Tinubu also joined the DOJ’s request for the extension.
The firm said it obtained a copy of a recent court filing submitted on Tinubu’s behalf and claimed that the Nigerian president formally joined the request just two business days before it became public.
However, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell rejected the request for additional time and directed that the records be released by August 21.
Von Batten said Tinubu’s reported decision to participate in the extension request raised questions about his reasons for seeking more time before the records are made public.
The firm alleged that the delay could potentially be used to lobby U.S. officials over concerns that releasing the documents might affect U.S.-Nigeria relations.
It further speculated that Tinubu could argue that disclosure of the records might affect his cooperation with Washington on counterterrorism and security matters.
The records relate to allegations dating back to the early 1990s, including the 1993 forfeiture of approximately $460,000 connected to accounts associated with Tinubu in a U.S. proceeding involving suspected proceeds of narcotics trafficking.
Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing and has rejected allegations linking him personally to drug trafficking.
Von Batten also warned against any attempt by U.S. officials to interfere with the FOIA or judicial process to prevent the records from being released.
The lobbying firm referenced U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated opposition to shielding individuals accused of serious criminal conduct, arguing that the legal process should be allowed to proceed without political interference.
With Judge Howell’s ruling in place, the records are expected to be released on or before August 21, unless further legal action changes the deadline.
The contents of the documents remain unknown, and their release could provide further information about the 1990s forfeiture proceedings and U.S. law-enforcement investigations involving accounts linked to Tinubu.
South Africa’s anti-immigration group, March and March, has announced September 30 as a fresh deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave the country, as it staged a protest outside the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Durban on Monday.
The group marched through central Durban under the theme, “It’s time to fetch your people,” calling on African leaders attending the 46th SADC Summit to take back their citizens living in South Africa without legal documentation.
March and March had earlier led nationwide protests on June 30, demanding tougher government action against undocumented immigration and warning that its campaign would continue until its demands were addressed.
Announcing its latest action, the group said the September 30 deadline would mark the beginning of what it described as the “mother of all protests”, while urging South Africans to assist the police in identifying undocumented foreigners.
The protest took place as the 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government got underway in Durban, with leaders from the regional bloc’s 16 member states in attendance.
The demonstration has renewed debate over South Africa’s treatment of foreign nationals, particularly citizens of other African countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently condemned discrimination and violence against foreigners, saying South Africa could not advocate regional integration at the SADC summit while practising exclusion within the country.
The June 30 protests were accompanied by security operations and reports of attacks and looting in some areas, according to police reports cited in the original report.
March and March has continued to demand tougher action against undocumented immigration, while tensions over the treatment of foreign nationals have prompted some African countries to evacuate their citizens from South Africa.
The latest protest has brought the immigration dispute directly to the doorstep of the SADC summit, placing the issue before regional leaders whose citizens are among those affected.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a US deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, while calling on Tehran to surrender.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, amid ongoing talks between Oman and Iran over future maritime navigation arrangements through the strategic waterway.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump said, referring to the discussions between Oman and Iran as Washington pursues its own negotiations.
Iranian and Omani officials have been holding talks for weeks, with Iran’s Foreign Ministry saying Monday that both sides were working towards a joint declaration on the strait.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Strait of Hormuz is under US control, despite Iran maintaining an effective blockade that has severely restricted maritime traffic.
On Friday, Trump said he could even declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory, prompting Iran to insist that the strategic waterway “will remain Iranian.”
Trump also called on Iran to “put up the white flag of surrender,” according to Yingst.
The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran to the north and Oman to the south, was previously regarded as an open international waterway and carries a significant share of global energy shipments.
AFP
There has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during the Middle East war, with the exception of a rescue mission in April for a downed American pilot.
Hatami did not provide any details on where or when the killing or capturing of US soldiers was expected to take place.
“Anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading American military personnel will receive a reward equivalent to $30,000 or 5 billion tomans from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army,” Hatami said, using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials.
The war between Tehran and Washington began on February 28 after the United States, joined by Israel, attacked Iran. It was followed by an April ceasefire after nearly 40 days of fighting, and a June framework for peace talks that later collapsed.
Iran and the United States have since traded fire sporadically, with fighting mainly centred in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.
AFP
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