Trust International Killings of Nigerians in Libya, the US Connection
Weekly Trust (Kaduna)
November 5, 2000
Muhammad Hassan-Tom
Kaduna
By now, it is obvious that there is a link between the recent rumours about
a United States military base being set up in Nigeria and the
sensationalised account about alleged killings of Nigerians in Tripoli,
Libya last month.
The plan is as plain as the logic is lucid. The whipping up of anti- Libyan
feelings amongst Nigerians would ensure a break-up of the historic alliance
for the liberation and unity of Africa between the two great nations.
The conspirators' calculation is that a rift at this point between President
Olusegun Obasanjo and Col. Muammar Ghaddafi -two veterans of the century -
old struggle to free and unite the continent - would check hopes of the
impending African renaissance. Already, an attempt in the early 1990s to
breakdown the rapport between Libya and South Africa was botched when
President Nelson Mandela, doyen of pan- Africanist, refused to be
intimidated by Western treats into abandoning an old and reliable ally in
the war against apartheid. Similarly, an attempt was made through the
Western media to create animosity between the then President Mandela and
General Sani Abacha. On both occasions, a certain sense of self-awareness
averted the planned unravelling of the historic relations among these three
Africans powers.
In this latest attempt, the US had hoped that a mass hysteria and sense of
insecurity following exaggerated reports about killings of Nigerians in
Libya would soften the ground for the acceptance of a US military base in
the country. With Libya already labelled a "terrorist state" it would not be
difficult to push the myth that Nigeria would need some sort of defence
alliance against the territorial ambitions of the Libyan strongman. It
exposes the delusion of some Western strategists who believe that the great
majority of African people could be swayed into accepting occupation by
foreign forces under any guise.
However, this recent blow aimed at the continent's coat of unity must not go
uninvestigated or unpunished. This is because at least four Africans were
confirmed dead and scores of others injured when skirmishes between Libyan
youths and African immigrants broke out on September 30. According to news
agency reports, mobs of Libyan youth attacked detention camps where over
30,000 illegal African immigrants were awaiting deportation.
While the Western agencies put the death toll of Nigerians alone at 500, the
Libyan Embassy in Abuja said just four persons, mostly Nigerians were killed
in the clashes.
Today, both the causes and the conspirators behind the uprising by the
Libyan youths remain the subject of investigation. This is the greatest
acknowledgement by the authorities in Tripoli that there must be more to the
mysterious incidence than meets the eye. Libyans have no history of
xenophobia and have indeed welcomed all law-abiding and productive legal
immigrants since their independence. Currently, there are about four million
African immigrants of which over one million are Nigerians.
Of course, with just over three million indigenous Libyans, the immigrant
population has a very visible presence but it is largely positive. The ire
of the rioting Libyan youth could be targeted only at the criminal elements
among the immigrants. These include armed robbers, drug dealers, murderers,
rapists and fraudsters who in most cases had entered the country without any
documents. The recent arrest of armed suspects by the Kaduna State police
command confirms the case. The suspected armed robbers were among the 3000
Nigerians deported from Tripoli in the aftermath of the recent crisis.
Because it lacked any basis in truth, the false "news" fabricated by Western
media about a Libyan war against Nigerians failed to cause the frenzy
expected. In the streets and the seat of power, Nigerians have been able to
put the issue in proper perspective. Announcing the federal government's
full acceptance of the deportation exercise, Dr. Doyin Okupe, the Special
Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity stated that "the Nigerian
immigrants illegally residing in Libya are to be repatriated rather than
allowed to tarnish the country's image."
On his part, the Minister for Cooperation and Integration in Africa, Chief
Dapo Sarumi described some of the evacuees as "criminals and prostitutes."
According to him, "many of the deportees were misled into believing that
they could get to Europe through Libya only becoming stranded following
which some of them took to crime."
Even the deportees had little to complain against in the recent exercise.
In an interview in the Guardian newspaper of October 6,2000, Isa Amodu who
was among the first arrivals at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport,
Lagos declared that "In fairness to Ghaddafi, he did not give a go-ahead
order" for the attacks. Amodu also informed that "it was the youth who said
they didn't want to see blacks. They attacked us and burned out properties.
The refugee camp where we were kept was also burnt."
Indeed, contrary to reports that Libya had planned to expel most immigrants,
Ghaddafi in his independence anniversary speech on September 1, 2000
promised to relax immigration laws especially for Africans.
Probably alarmed by the possibility that the move would result in the coming
of more criminal immigrants, some mischievous Libyans capitalised on the
initiative to attack African immigrants. The theory investigators are
looking into is that a Western power unprecedented upsurge of xenophobia.
The rampaging youth also attacked the Nigerian Embassy in Tripoli.
According to sources at the Libyan Embassy in Abuja, the government in
Tripoli strongly suspects the involvement of some Western countries in the
fiasco. Ghaddafi has reportedly ordered an official investigation even as
some youth have been arrested and are under-going interrogation for possible
prosecution. One of the sources said "we feel very sorry about this
handiwork of people working against African unity," but maintained that the
relationship between the two nations remains as cordial as ever.
Similarly, a statement issued by the Libyan authorities also categorically
declared that "some Western press and other paid African news media reported
the recent skirmishes involving some youth in the Great Jamahiriya and some
African citizens in a frivolous manner in order to destroy the
Libyan-African relationship and thereby halt the Jamahiriya's effort towards
uniting the continent as ratified in the basic law of the Organisation of
African Unity (OAU)."
The statement also explained that Libya's vast borders facilitated the entry
of a large number of Africans without legal documents. "Such people engage
in illegal social activities like drug, robbery, murder, rape fraud and
spreading of infectious diseases in various towns," It added.
The authorities assured that it had taken all the necessary measures to
control the situation while investigation is still going on to determine
those behind the crisis.
Meanwhile, Libya which has been in the forefront of the decolonisation of
Africa and anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa is continuing its efforts
towards continental development in the education sphere. The first phase of
its proposed comprehensive private university is well underway.
With some $300 million already sunk into the project, the university is
expected to take off in Kano sometime in 2001. It will offer courses in the
arts, social sciences and especially science and technology at subsided
costs. With its history of fierce anti-imperialism exemplified by the
20-year-long war by Umar Muktar against Italian colonialists, Libya seems
undaunted in its resolve to free and empower the rest of Africa.
****
Taylor Confers With Kadhafi in Tripoli
Panafrican News Agency
November 6, 2000
Tripoli
Liberian President Charles Taylor is in Tripoli for talks
with the Libyan leader, Col. Moammar Kadhafi, expected to
feature political developments in Africa.
Informed sources said discussions with Taylor, who arrived in Tripoli late
Sunday for a visit whose duration was not specified, will also involve
bilateral and international issues, including African Unity, Kadhafi's
pre-occupation for some time now.
Liberia and Libya have good relations dating from the mid- 1980s, when
Taylor received military training before launching his rebellion in December
1989 against the government of late President Samuel Doe.
The Liberian leader earlier visited Nigeria Friday and later made a
stop-over in Cote 'Ivoire, where he became the first foreign Head of State
to visit the new Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, since the latter's
controversial inauguration two weeks ago.
------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright � 2000 Panafrican News Agency. Distributed by
allAfrica.com. For information about the content or for
permission to redistribute, publish or use for broadcast,
contact the publisher.
------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________________
KOMINFORM
P.O. Box 66
00841 Helsinki - Finland
+358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081
e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.kominf.pp.fi
_______________________________________________________
Kominform list for general information.
Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news.
Subscribe/unsubscribe messages:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________________________
