well i tell you chad you got to just. gently. recognize where exactly. they are not our culture of. detail travel. extremely. i think there's been a lot of. misrepresentation when it comes to the double depressed we did extremely very well you rank 100 and 20th out of 180 countries of glorious record as it was the things of a lot of ignorance and not all 5 chief the assumption has to be that you're covering up damaging evidence doesn't it if those ideas are true interest been taken care of despite promises to respect the rule of law nigeria's government stands accused by the international community of serious human rights abuses my

guest this week here in london is live mohammed the country's information minister how does he defend against the country's many critics when the evidence of wrongdoing is so compelling. like mohammed welcomes controversial thank you for the human rights record of your administration has been widely condemned by the un western countries your own lawyers international human rights bodies for brutality and the stunning lack of accountability why do you see this go on and why didn't you get a grip on this i think there's been a lot of. misrepresentation. by all these groups absolutely really working concert well you know they're working constant they're working you

know a lot but i know for a fact that's essential in particular. has been very sensitive to the issue of human rights most sometimes terrorists politicians activists are confused with human rights so you put it all down to confusion i would do that because i do not know as a fact and i've been minister for almost 5 years that this any policy of my mistress. that deliberately targeted at infringing on anybody's rights missed the last september the un special rapporteur on extrajudicial summary

or arbitrary executions i've missed kalama she launched a damning report on nigeria i'm sorry and the human rights abuses of your security forces she said that she spoke of countrywide patterns of abuses include the police military's excessive use of lethal lethal force in violation of the political international standards i'm sure you read the report page is not a person who makes these accusations lightly indeed i did but i would have been much more impressed if an example was. i given now you must not forget that language has been locked in a war of attrition with a book for almost a decade and the kind of. war we are fighting is a war amongst people. and. even then the military has been very

careful to ensure that as much as possible rights are not valid it now i've also read about reports of people who claim that there are them balloted simply because they have been arrested by any of the security agencies and they've been asked to go through what are called due process but i know their support is in this government does nobody today but is right if it's not a matter of policy why have there been so few investigations the un investigator spoke about the absence of meaning effective investigations the absence of meaningful prosecution all of which are compounded she said by the lack of transparency over the vast majority of security issues that accusation about lack of transparency and effective communication strategy goes straight to your door mr doesn't it you are the minister of information serious criticism here but

what i do know as a fact that. several cases of abuse of you know rights kelly against soldiers have not only be investigated but people have been punished and have been made public how many how many people i don't know offhand but i knew the minister of information was of course i can't know everything but i know for i know that the military or so is very jealous of his reputation and they are set up many say you know. i also and i think that officers are either been dismissed or imprisoned. the international criminal court isn't isn't impressed by a record that says in 20000 there was a reasonable basis to believe that the nigerian security forces committed the war

crimes of murder torture cruel treatment outrages upon personal dignity and intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population but you have failed to cooperate with investigators and failed to provide information that they requested and if you take these things seriously and you cannot but take the word of the international criminal court seriously you would have provided that information why didn't you how do you know what information they were asking for a lawyer provided by another would incorporate in with a breeder's history when they come to they say they weren't they were getting help from you they were getting them from the se nor the to the i.c.c. . met with the authorities in a korea and we would have no choice but to cooperate they've been waiting for years to get your cooperation and it hasn't come minister maybe you're out of the loop here what maybe you don't have information about what's going on in your own

government and very. informed or go so my government and ourselves i did i do take the trouble to ask and. i'm not there to see again i'm not aware that we haven't we don't know cooperation from the i.c.c. the only special rapporteur speaks of countless allegations of excessive use of force by your police in particular officers of the special anti robbery squad or saw as you said you wanted specific examples there's a specific examples they've been accused of widespread torture in some cases leading to deaths in custody and extra judicial killings so the unit is clearly out of control isn't it because the un human rights committee warned your government to ensure that this group operates in accordance with international standards because they don't trust that it's doing that at the moment why would that be. i think i'm

aware of that and at a point in time when to the court came out the sas was disbanded and only little billy constituted and you know one that as forth they must. be sure that they operated within the confines of the know your own national human rights commission investigated their activities and even held public hearings but the results were never published were. not aware that the river that i'm not i'm not aware that i was on what are published and much of my assumption has to be that you're covering up damaging evidence doesn't it which you referred to i don't think we had a couple of brain damage in the video as some police men were dismissed then science was disbanded and reorganized there after. minister on the question of providing information to outside investigators you failed to provide

information to the u.n. under the international covenant on civil and political rights which nigeria has signed last august the treaty body accused you of failing to honor your reporting obligations under article 40 of the covenant and ignoring numerous reminders to do self why is that when you tell me your cooperating so openly with these bodies why would they say that but he wasn't true i want to know why they will say that by that i know that we have never shown any internationalization we are very open as to the facts those who are not her she will be as much as possible for any country who is in a with an internal you know. he is so jesse very open and we we operate with international you know regulations and laws

well clearly you don't go into the bodies that monitor these situations well it depends a for it it depends on from which perspective they're getting their information where they're getting it from different perspectives on them we're talking about human rights organizations international human rights organizations we're talking about the u.n. we're talking about. all kinds of bodies the international criminal court they're all saying the same thing that you're not cooperating in new city or the in front in front of me minister says about simply not true it's like saying it's starkness outside when we can see it's very like no no no i think that knowledge is not correct i ignore the daily we receive entity and we engage all of these bodies. as a government and you're not going to move from that version despite the evidence that i have quite a level of i'm yet to see any be any evidence that tam. that is

so very large and white and if israel in that ad not responded to it when he talked about sus yes admitted that yes it will be pursued report and we took action mr we're all not stonewalling on requests for information you're taking radio stations of the air and having reporters arrested or beaten june last year you tried shutting down nigeria's oldest private t.v. channel as well as radio stations owned by a member of the opposition p.d.p. rayment dock pacey a federal court overturned your suspension but the nigerian guild of editors called this a barbaric crackdown on free speech why are you launching a barbaric crackdown on free speech i think is a lot of ignorance and a lot of this jeev get it just don't know what i'm talking about real good the press is stationed what to last dell because he ordered the national red little not because of the news it was pushing out and in january last year soldiers raided

the offices of one of your leading papers the daily trust and arrested reporters in march of journalists have been held for 2 years was rearrested you rank 100 and 20th out of $180.00 countries in the press freedom in the acts of reporters without borders it's not a glorious record is it the mr well as i think when it comes to the level of the press. we're doing extremely very well and if papers run foul of the law the must be the consequences but when you have back today 100 newspapers in a country and i cited example one is pivotal squadron with here i think should be fair to us that we have a very robust free press amnesty international says that between january and september last year at least 19 journalists and media practitioners were attacked

those attacks including verbal and physical assault and indiscriminate arrest and detention by your security forces in the impression ministers therefore that your aims seems to be to stifle freedom of expression especially critical voices you don't like criticism that's the correct is it because i think many of these people don't live on that don't know the eco system of the media in injury virtually every major you know print media is owned by individuals and i can tell you that this they had a list of all 12 national newspapers and trust dilip trust i thought i don't remember what the story was but you cannot take the example of one newspaper among about 20 to say that the country is suffering the media on the contrary at a point in time i thought that was the government it was actually at the receiving end of the media what has also worried people enormously his decision to submit

a bill which in its original form would have seen anyone convicted of so-called hate speech actually sentenced to death by hanging on the particular circumstances you actually wanted and you sought authorization from parliament to kill people because of something they said why would you do a thing like that extraordinary and shocking provision added what is the real. the ignorance of people there's what is cause oppression of power in or in most major democracies this particular be talking about is it built up to ted not by the body the decisions by the listed even of government so how can you accuse the as if. you submitted you submitted as we did not as a source of the sort of ignorance we did not this this is a private member's bill by a senator with just the you have this and you're telling me you didn't want it to

go through is that we do have a choice in which bills go through or not the bill has been discussed this public airing what is it the government does not tell me what to when the bill has been passed and you didn't use any influence to get the torso out or absolutely none if this bill had gone through mr journalist could have been jailed for any article didn't threatening abusive or insulting and could have been hanged if their work caused any loss of life what you didn't object to this bill that you asked if this was what is called the tree of the penal power. the only thing you can do as president is refuse your asset such a lot the last blood being passed the blood what would not or death or but desire to keep the law is still going through the senate so how did that how did i does mr president stop it with i've been accused of no dictatorship and muslim the you

telling me you wouldn't have signed the law with that provision in it i think this you can tell me that you have been speculative you can't tell me why when we when we get when we get that bridge not because it would look at what are the contents of that law in what form will it be passed but you see people rushed in order to history to judge to judge when you can't if we don't have one when you said we submitted that that bill we did not we know nothing other than wanted submitted knew we don't micromanage the parliament really what about the protection from internet for sword and manipulations bill also carrying draconian provisions on the journalists could be in prison and who for publishing content all the author of that bill are you against this bill will know i'm not even aware of that bill you're not i'm the protection from internet falso the manipulations bill you're not even aware of nowhere bit so it can't because it's causing it's causing an outcry

internationally and you are the minister of information and i have nothing about as nor thought bill before the house there is a bill that has diverted that it is really that is not such a bill before the house reporters without borders these bills talking about the prohibition of hate speech bill and the protection from internet falso the manipulations bill and they said these bills contain extremely harsh penalties that violate international law and are likely to be used to gag the media and you are saying you know nothing about this just the same with the were wrong as in that desert you submitted the hate speech bill. mr let's talk about corruption because in your country it seems to begin with the government doesn't it the international center for investigative reporting said last year that among 9 countries in sub-saharan africa nigeria has the worst managed sovereign wealth fund

based on accountability transparency and oversight why is a record so bad the absolutely false. absolutely false report by the national resource institute's africa office based on data from 2017 said you had failed to regularly disclose publicly the financial interests of government officials in the extractive sector or the identities of beneficial owners of extractive companies despite making public commitments to do so the subsidy forces the force to do the 1st obligation as a minister a public official is way too little it probably declare ition of oil assets. and any minister or public official who does not do still risks being prosecuted and we know many who are not being prosecuted as a result of that too is to the great of this administration that only if you months ago we passed you know we put in the in place a policy that compels every ministry every department to make public any

expenditure above 10000 past so that the public can challenge what is being spent for is altogether a position that no government has ever succeeded in securing the condition of high profile politicians as an instruction as paid those of them who belong to the will in party we continue to fight corruption because and you for and you follow the rules do absolutely so in 2018 why in towards the close of president will his 1st wives of the auditor general himself raise serious concerns about the so-called excess crude account that you have this is an oil savings account which holds dollar reserves from crude oil that are sold above the assumed benchmark price and in july that year the auditor general warned you to bring your handling of this account into line with the law why if you tell me follow the rules did he feel the

need to say this is precisely because. he said it shows how to correct their decision is the editor there as an appointee of just how shocking he thinks your behavior actually is no us nor on the contrary relations the level of transparency in demonstration that an appointee of god plenty can say this i mean yet retain his job he noted that the actions from the account which appeared to have been made illegally in other words deductions that apparently violated constitutional provisions why would that be and why would he say that if you're following the rules as you tell me you are everywhere in the world to live in the most well known democracies you have what it is generous you have what would it a generous yes yes and their duty is to monitor the excesses of government now defunct that is allowed to do the job and the sciri mince in office i think it's

a testament to the fact that we're in a bit as bit in or unstructured the effect if this is one congratulations for that always be heard i want to for as good as for us get from you as as i were supposed to know not just as i'm from the auditor general who says you're not in line with the law but with that you don't take that matters outside you destroy the. to the correctness or not of that you know allegation the fact that he can make that allegation some meat each is bill clinton and his teary middle daughter i think it's that will happen live in it and station that does not believe interest me says the audit team could find no legal authority for even the existence of this excess crude account so it's a sham and a slush fund isn't it but i don't buy don't you admit it and with that yeah there's no legal basis for this for this account and you know i don't think it's correct to

say that this normally would be as well because the quid. is a cult i've known about it even before we came to government. it said the audit team could find no legal authority for even the existence of this excess crude account how come you didn't order persistent warnings from the auditor general as he said year after year not just your government but the previous one going back to 2007 to bring this in line with the law again you tell me you follow the rules but it's not backed up by the auditor general we followed the rules and like even that allegation even that arthur is correct the all idea of an auditor general is to point out to you what you have gone wrong unfortunately to write i don't see any goban in the war that is all we always follow the law were always do everything correctly but as signified that that original comment the report and nothing else

couple team is thin office yes and what you continue to make illegal deductions from the account what it depends what you may be getting a little illegal doctrine deductions that violated constitutional provisions it's not easy if if a god member list concessional provision it is the little duty of the parliament to take appropriate action but i don't believe that we do sponsibility the government if it cares about the people's money to mend its ways and oh of course and will but that's if you have believe that you have even the little of the laws but what are some sins and yes they are truly out of alfonso normal is the all essence of what the jura anywhere in the word that it will be checks and balances and ali as does what will put it out here is that there are some regularities and then the appropriate you know i am of god plenty who did it for so what are you going to do in future about this i'm sure it has been and if he what are you going to do those alligators are true and has been taken care of but hasn't been in these been

reporting and complaining about the government's attitude to the supply since 2007 well just as the un has been complaining that you haven't been giving information about. and excesses of violence used by your security forces as the international criminal court has been complaining all these complaints are piling up minister what are you going to do in the future when we don't walk we look at a very calm place we look at our friend there and we take action like i've told you there been several yes many military officers are been jailed some have been dismissed and it's in our interests global witness says despite a 50 year all boom which transformed nigeria's economy into the largest in africa 80 percent of your people live on less than $2.00 a day they say that an estimated $400000000000.00 has gone missing from state coffers are you going to tell the people of nigeria where their money has gone.

and our watch between 2015 and 20 native nobody can suffered in such allegations and i can only speak for when i became minister and i can see that between 25th and today nobody can talk about all the money missing. my mama thanks very much for being so thank you very much.

mistreated murders displaced nearly a 1000000 bringing down have fled their homes in myanmar and most are now trapped in neighboring bangladesh such a good job goodness this plan's ethnic cleansing and if so who was responsible should come to a documentary looking for answers to. these teens.

to the point that strong opinions clear positions international perspectives. more than a 100 countries around the world are in the grip of the coronavirus thousands have died and many more are infected and this business is struggle to stay alive the great fears of a global recessions are to deal with the angst find out all to the point short one . to the point. of even the most generous on g.w. .

each step tells my story. on the people who plan to meet bill to dedicated their lives to me. i am not too down to come. on this trip on mine. in the centuries they built me they created something truly. not too much as i must destroy it. i have mocked to my cities days for centuries the company of my country. was until the day i mean maybe. not the time to believe. april and.

this is day to really news live from the live in italy overtakes china with the highest number of deaths from corona virus in one city and beyond me is helping to carry away the dead because hospital molds to so overwhelmed also coming up. germany begins the biggest repatriation effort in its history aiming to bring back around 100000 german term.