Hello,
Legal advisor is looking for an expert witness on Nigeria who can
comment on traditional forms of leadership and their relationship with
oil companies in Nigeria; militant youth groups - how well they are
networked and armed; and the capacity of the Nigerian government to
protect an individual from such youth groups. This is a "sur place"
refugee claim. For anyone willing to provide an expert statement I can
provide you with a redacted version of the client's testimony.
Synopsis of case:
The client, Mr. S is a Nigerian from the Ikwerre (Ekwere) ethnic group.
He left Nigeria in July 2004. He was invited by Arab Contractors to
Cairo for soccer trials, to play soccer in Egypt. The client never
received a soccer contract. In September 2004 the client spoke with his
friend, Mr. E in Nigeria on the phone and learned that his father and
brother had been brutally murdered by a militant Ekwere youth group that
is well networked and armed. The client claims that he can not return to
Nigeria. His father, a Chief in a Council of Chiefs for the Isiokpo
local government, named Mr. O who lived in Port Harcourt at the time he
was murdered. His brother named Mr. B fled to another state - Bayelsa
to save his life, the same Ekwere youth sought him out and killed him.
The client's father was in charge of negotiating employment and
development contracts with oil companies found locally. The local
villagers felt that the benefits/profits were not being shared - passed
on to the community and so they decided to kill the village chief and
his sons - the heirs, so they would not be able to reclaim the position
of chief. All this happened while my client was here in Cairo. He is
afraid to return to Nigeria because he believes the Ekwere youth will
kill him and the Nigerian government is unable or unwilling to protect
him. The client spoke with his friend in early 2007 who indicated that
the community might be aware that the client is in Egypt. The client
does not feel safe in Cairo as it would be easy for anyone in the
Nigerian community to indicate his whereabouts to someone who is looking
for him. The client was rejected by UNHCR in 2004 and the reasons for
rejection were "No well founded fear of future persecution" (NWP). The
client filed an appeal in 2005 and the decision remained unchanged and
the file is closed. The client did not seek legal assistance for his
first instance or appeal.
Regards,
Gwendolyn L. Roeske
Legal Advisor
AMERA - Egypt
www.amera-uk.org
1 Tawfik Diab St.
3rd Floor, Apt. # 15
Garden City, Cairo
Egypt
Tel: 02 2795-3202
Fx: 02 2792-6424
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Note: The material contained in this communication comes to you from the
Forced Migration Discussion List which is moderated by the Refugee
Studies Centre (RSC), Oxford Department of International Development,
University of Oxford. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the
RSC or the University. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this
message please retain this disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should
include attribution to the original sources.
List Archives: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/forced-migration.html
RSS: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?RSS&L=forced-migration
Subscribe/unsubscribe: http://tinyurl.com/fmlist-join-leave
|