NAS in the News

The State Director,
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Dear Sir,

PETITION TO IMMEDIATELY ADDRESS THE PLIGHT OF FLOOD RAVAGED COMMUNITIES ALONG THE ORASHI AREA OF RIVERS STATE

Between July and October 2012, heavy rains combined with rising water levels resulting from the runoff contributed to the flooding of human settlements located downstream of the Kainji, Shiroro, and Jebba dams on the Niger River; the Lagdo dam in Cameroun on the Benue River; the Kiri dam on the Gongola River; and several other irrigation dams. In some cases, the dams were damaged; in others, water had to be released at full force to avert an overflow. The flooding that followed in parts of Nigeria, pushed rivers over their banks and submerged hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), 363 people were killed, 5,851 injured, 3,891,314 affected, and 3, 871,53 displaced due to the resulting floods.

The Port Harcourt Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Rivers State has commended the National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) for its donation to inmates of the centre.
The centre also expressed its readiness to partner with the association in the establishment of a library for the benefits of the inmates.

Journalist and human rights activist, Agba Jalingo has advocated for improved funding as part of reforms to overhaul Correctional Centres across Nigeria.
Jalingo who himself spent six months as inmate at the Calabar Prison over a report he wrote on alleged mismanagement of public resources in Cross River State stated this at a public lecture with the theme: ‘Towards  Reforming the Administration of Criminal Justice System in Nigeria at the NAS F18 Day.

Olympus Marino Legal Roundtable

It is estimated that up to 75 percent of persons currently in Nigeria’s custodial facilities are awaiting trial. A large share of them have never had the privilege of appearing in a court to defend themselves before a judge.

A good number of inmates have spent more time in prison awaiting trial then than they would have spent if convicted and sentenced for the crimes they have been accused of.

...Urges NHRC to establish "dedicated" toll-free number to report cases

The National Association of Seadogs (NAS), Pyrates Confraternity, has urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), particularly in Rivers State,
to consider launching a telephone line for reporting violence against women and girls.

NAS made the call in a letter addressed to the coordinator of the commission in Rivers State signed by its Port Harcourt chapter Vice President, Kennedy Barango.

The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity), Panama Deck, has called for a Master Drainage Plan to solve the perennial problem of flood in Lagos state.

The Panama Deck Capoon, Mr Iheanyi Konkwo in a statement issued on behalf of the deck notes that “over the years successive administrations in the state have continued to grapple with finding a lasting solution to this largely avoidable menace.”

According to him, “unfortunately, this recurring and predictable disaster has repeatedly caused devastating social, security and economic consequences”

The National Association of Seadogs has joined the growing number of civil society organisations speaking up about the continuing killings in Southern Kaduna in Nigeria’s northern region.

In a press statement released late last month, a copy of which was sent to The Daily Report, the organisation said it was concerned that the affected areas have “become a dark and blighted landscape with the recurring orgy of wanton and senseless killings of human beings and destruction of property in recent months, with the attendant humanitarian crises.”

It added that “it is unimaginable how these killings have lingered on even with the network of Nigerian security architecture at both the State and Federal government levels”, pointing out that “governments all over the world are entrusted with the job of security and protection of citizens.”

The National Association of Seadogs (NAS), Pyrates Confraternity, says it was making plans to send a presentation to the Federal and State Ministries of Education for the inclusion of road safety into school curriculum.

The Cap’n of the Ikeja Zone of NAS, also known as Panama Deck, Mr. Godstime Awoze, made the submission during a road safety awareness programme for pupils of Estate and Ogba Primary Schools in Lagos.