Congolese Ex-Rebel Leader Jailed For 18 Years Over Crimes & S3xual Violence

Congolese ex-rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba has been jailed for 18 years following a landmark conviction at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and sexual violence.

Bemba, a former vice-president of DR Congo, was convicted in March of crimes committed in the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002-2003.

He was accused of failing to stop his rebels from killing and raping people.

Judges announced sentences of between 16 and 18 years for five counts of rape, murder and pillaging, with the jail terms running concurrently. The eight years Bemba has already spent in custody will be deducted from his term.
His conviction was the first time the ICC had focused on rape as a weapon of war, and the first time a suspect had been convicted for crimes committed by others under his command.

Passing sentence at the ICC in The Hague, Judge Sylvia Steiner said Bemba had failed to exercise control over his private militia sent into CAR, where they carried out “sadistic” rapes, murders and pillaging of “particular cruelty”.

Bemba’s lawyers have already said they will appeal against his conviction.

Amazing: President Buhary Orders arrest of brother in law over Alleged Extortion

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered Nigeria’s security agents to arrest his brother-in-law for allegedly extorting money from an unnamed businessman, a close confidante of the Nigerian leader told SaharaReporters. He said the suspect, named Musa Yola, was the immediate younger brother of Mr. Buhari’s wife. 

Our source disclosed that the suspect, also addressed as “Alhaji Yola,” reportedly received N300 million from a businessman after promising to provide his dupe with political access to secure an oil block from the Buhari administration. According to our source, Mr. Buhari personally ordered last Monday night that Mr. Yola be produced before him in handcuffs in the company of the businessman he duped. After telling the businessman that he was stupid to part with such significant cash when he should know that he, Mr. Buhari, would not participate in fraud, the president ordered agents of the State Security Services (SSS) attached to Aso Rock Villa to thoroughly investigate the scam. He also ordered the SSS operatives to ensure that the businessman recovered his money from his brother-in-law. An SSS source told SaharaReporters, “Alhaji Yola has refunded the money to the affected businessman.” He added: “Alhaji Yola has been released on bail.”

Atiku Says - A Vote For PDP Is Vote For Insurgency, Corruption, Unemployment

Former Vice President and All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential aspirant, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, in Enugu, warned Nigerians, that a vote for Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2015 general elections, was a vote for continuation of insurgency, kidnapping, oil bunkering, corruption and unemployment, among others. The former Vice President insisted that the PDP had nothing to offer Nigerians, but how case propaganda, blaming insurgency, kidnapping, and lack of jobs.

Addressing Enugu State delegates, ahead of APC national convention, Atiku said PDP-led government was very good at practicing government of propaganda, lamenting that since he grew up, he had never seen Nigeria governed the way it was being governed today with no sense of direction and purpose. He said: “The PDP government is only good in propaganda.
They build railways only on television. There is insecurity everywhere. There is unemployment. Most of the problems in this country, insurgency, kidnapping, oil bunkering is done by youths because they don’t have jobs. Once they have jobs, they will not engage in such. None of them boasts of this experience. I have contributed to democracy more than all of them.

Even when the situation favoured me personally, I rejected it for the benefit of the entire country. Records are there for everybody to see. I have prepared myself. I have experience and I want to serve. If you go to APC states, you see what the Governors are doing. If you go to Rivers, Nasarawa, Lagos, Sokoto, you will see what the Governors are doing.
You can see it.” He said he decided to join the presidential race to make a change, and save the country from destructioin, arguing that APC, as reformers, would change in Nigeria for the better. Atiku added that he was the most suitable among the four aspirants vying for the APC presidential ticket, having had the longest political experience, occupied the highest political office in a democracy and worked in every part of the country.
Speaking on behalf of the Enugu delegates, a member of APC Board of Trustees, BOT, Brigadier General Joseph Okoloagu, (retd), said he was convinced that Atiku Ababukar had the capacity to deliver the country, if given the chance.
Source:- Vanguard Newspaper -