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Ambassador In Limbo Makes Plea For Afghans To Be Allowed Into EU

Ambassador in limbo makes plea for Afghans to be allowed into EU

In other times, Mirwais Samadi would have welcomed a campaign to deter his compatriots from opting to become illegal migrants and embarking on the often dangerous trek from Afghanistan to Europe.

By far the worst part of his job as Afghanistan’s ambassador to Athens – apart from the strange limbo he has found himself in representing a nation whose leaders he refuses to recognise – is notifying families back home of loved ones who died along the way. Invariably they are the victims of smuggling networks motivated solely by profit.

But Greece’s announcement of a media blitz to discourage “illegal migrant flows” from Afghanistan only weeks after Taliban militants seized power has also left the ambassador appalled.

In the face of European hostility to Afghans heading west – and as the new regime vows to rule according to a ruthless interpretation of Islamic law – Samadi, like other career diplomats still loyal to the old regime, has found himself imploring EU governments to think again.

“This is a time for solidarity, not the time for the west to turn its back on the people of Afghanistan and abandon them or have a campaign that urges [them] to stay,” he told the Guardian in his cavernous ambassadorial office. “In normal circumstances I would not be in favour of illegal movement but when people are forced to leave due to the security situation and for fear of their lives, what should we do?”

The centre-right government of the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, unveiled the EU-funded initiative, saying its goal was “to make clear that Greece guards its borders in an organised way and does not allow illegal migration flows”.

Amid fears of the country again becoming the gateway for thousands of Europe-bound Afghans desperate to escape the excesses of Islamist hardliners still seeking international legitimacy, the Greek migration ministry admitted the move had been prompted by “the latest geopolitical developments in Afghanistan”.

Under the campaign, mainstream Afghan newspapers and social media will be targeted in what officials have called a blitzkrieg of messaging aimed at dissuading Afghans from paying smugglers to help them flee.

Platforms including YouTube will be employed, with videos reportedly being prepared to convey the unvarnished reality of what awaits people if they succeed in reaching Greece through irregular means. This week asylum seekers on Samos were moved into a “closed” and highly fortified reception centre – the first of five EU-funded facilities on Aegean isles – that is encircled by military-style fencing and equipped with magnetic gates more resonant of a prison than a migrant camp, NGOs say.

In his smart blue suit, cufflink shirt, loafers and yellow tie, Samadi, who served in Washington prior to arriving in Athens in 2019, is visually everything the Taliban are not. Like Afghan ambassadors worldwide, he was appointed by the now exiled foreign minister, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, with whom he and his counterparts still confer as representatives of Kabul’s “legitimate government” in weekly online Zoom meetings.

“No one has told us to take down our flag,” he said, pointing to the ensign the Islamic Republic used before the Taliban takeover. “We are in a limbo situation where no one recognises the Taliban, but how long that will go on for, no one knows.”

Western powers have not recognised the Taliban’s recently announced government, and its foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, has yet to nominate any representatives to replace Afghanistan’s contingent of ambassadors abroad if diplomatic relations are established. As a result, its overseas missions remain in the hands of pro-western career diplomats astounded by the course of events in their homeland, unsure of how they will survive financially and holding meetings with officials who have fled the country.

Samadi, whose wife is a prominent women’s rights activist, belongs firmly in that school. His time in Athens has been a wake-up call to the desperation that drives Afghans to seek refuge in Europe, often at great personal cost.

Eight months ago, the diplomat says, he too pressed the case for his compatriots not to embark on perilous journeys to Greece, long on the frontline of migrant and refugee arrivals from Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

“The hardest part of my job is having to inform families of children who are found dead in the sea, or in the forests around the Greek-Turkish [land] border,” he said. “In interviews with all the major TV channels in Afghanistan I encouraged people, back then, not to attempt to come illegally. I said please don’t send your children on these dangerous journeys. But now circumstances are completely different.”

Describing the situation as unique, he warned: “If countries close their borders it will be a human catastrophe … now is not the proper time for such a campaign, we have all seen the heartbreaking scenes.”

Instead, he said, all nations should be holding the Taliban to account because if the situation inside Afghanistan were to improve – with better job opportunities, security and freedom of expression for women, human rights activists and civil society – the desire to leave would diminish.

“Now is the time to make the Taliban accountable,” he said. “If the Taliban don’t enter negotiations with other Afghan political groups and agree to form a broad-based, inclusive government based on rule of law and respect for the rights of everyone then we should not be stopping but helping to get vulnerable people out.”

Afghans account for the largest number of asylum seekers in Greece – although the vast majority are headed on elsewhere – with an estimated 40,000 registered in the country.

A nondescript building perched on an elevation in Athens’ northern suburbs, the Afghan embassy was deluged daily by hundreds requiring passports and other documents to apply for refugee recognition status, prior to the pandemic.

“So far only about 10,000 of the 40,000 here have had their requests processed,” Samadi said. “The rest are still waiting. Over 95% arrive without documents and over 90% are in a very bad economic situation. They have sold everything, their clothes, properties, jewellery to make the journey.”

Before the Greek campaign even gets off the ground there are questions as to whether it will have any effect. “Migrants trust their own sources and have their own way of understanding things,” said Gianluca Rocco, the chief of mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN migration agency, in Greece. “They don’t listen so much to campaigns. Usually they trust their network of families and friends more than messages from governments of Europe.”

Since the fall of Kabul, Greece – which also took part in US-led evacuation efforts in August – has taken in about 65 Afghans refugees, including six female MPs who arrived en route to being resettled with their families in the US. Athens’ foreign ministry described them as “defenders of fundamental values, freedom of expression and gender equality”.

Samadi said he could sympathise with the domestic pressure the Greek government faced but that it was also up to the EU to stand up for the core values it represented.

“Thousands [of refugees] have arrived here and I know Greece has challenges, but there should be a joint EU effort to address this common challenge,” the ambassador said. “People in Afghanistan now are in a state of shock. But if the situation doesn’t improve then definitely in the coming months, once winter has passed, there is a strong possibility of big migrant flows towards Greece and the EU.”

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Court orders EFCC to return $20,000 bribe money collected by its officers to lawful owner

The Ikeja Special Offences Court sitting in Lagos has ruled that the bribe money demanded and collected by operatives of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2019 be released to the owner, Mr Olalekan Abdul.
Justice Mojisola Dada (Mrs) gave the orders on April 30, 2025.
A certified true copy of the ruling reads:- An Order granting delivery and/or restoration to the Defendant of the sum of $20,000:00 (Twenty Thousand United States Dollars) property of the Defendant (Olalekan Abdul) tendered and admitted as Exhibit B at the trial proceeding of 8/3/2023 and ordered to be held and kept in escrow Domiciliary Account in Polaris Bank, Ikeja in the name of the Chief Registrar of the High Court of Lagos State in pending completion of this case (now – concluded) be and is hereby granted.
In the same vein, the court also granted the leave as follows “That an Order lifting the lien on and directing the release to the Defendant (Olalekan Abdul) of the sum of N10,000,000:00 (Ten Million Naira only) held in Defendant’s Surety’s Mrs. Jemilat
Oluremi Yusuf – Sada’s Access Bank Account No. 1374520332 as condition for Defendant’s bail (as per the Ruling of this Honourable Court dated 31″ day of January 2020) pending completion of his trial on the charge. In this matter (now concluded) be and i s hereby
granted.

Recall that the same court had on March 5, 2025 discharged and acquitted the Chairman of Cleanserve, Azubuike Ishiekwene, and the Managing Director/CEO Olalekan Abdul of the case of fraud and forgery made against them by a nominal complainant.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had initially arraigned the defendants on a 26-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, using false documents without authority, possessing fraudulent documents, stealing and making documents without authority.
The Commission was acting at the behest of a nominal complainant, a certain Mr. Chris Ndulue, who claimed he was a director in the private company but was not in the file of the Corporate Affairs Commission and had no valid proxy.
Ishiekwene and Abdul, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge following their arraignment on January 30, 2020.
During the pendency of the charge, which started five years ago with suit number ID/11126C/2019, the prosecution had called nine witnesses, while the defence had called four witnesses.
Mr. Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN) appeared for the first defendant, Abdul, and Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN) appeared for Ishiekwene, the second defendant.

Following a series of applications, one of which challenged the EFCC’s use of a fiat by Lagos State in a case in which the defence counsel argued that a $20,000 bribe had compromised an operative and that the prosecution was on a mission of “persecution,” the office of the Attorney-General of Lagos State, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN), stepped in and took over the matter after a review.
Before the Lagos State AG stepped in, the court had ordered the recovery of the $20,000 from the custody of the EFCC and admitted the same as an exhibit.
During the investigation, an EFCC operative demanded a bribe in 2019 to “kill the matter” because, according to him, the facts suggested that Ndulue had no case.
A report of the demand was made through Mr. Ola Olukoyede (then the Secretary of the Commission), who ordered a sting operation in Lagos, during which other EFCC operatives apprehended the operative.
When the report reached the then-chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, he squashed it, redeployed the operative who had demanded a bribe, and turned the case against the defendants who had reported the operative.

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Two trucks collide, crush dispatch riders on Eko Bridge

Two dispatch riders lost their lives following a crash involving two fully loaded Mack trucks, with registration numbers; T-10357 LA, and KJA 107 XM.

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), General Manager, Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, said this in a statement on Sunday.

The statement was signed by Mr Taofiq Adebayo, Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA .

Bakare-Oki noted that the accident occurred Sunday morning on the Eko Bridge, inward Alaka corridor.

“Preliminary findings suggest that the driver of one of the articulated trucks, reportedly driving at an excessive speed while allegedly dozing off, lost control of the vehicle.

“The truck then careened into another moving trucks ahead of it, triggering a violent impact.

“This collision led to the dislodgement of a 20-foot container from one of the trucks, which subsequently crushed two unsuspecting dispatch riders who were navigating the route at the time.

“Both victims were confirmed dead at the scene,” he said.

He added that the swift and coordinated response from LASTMA officers, who were on routine traffic monitoring duty beneath the Eko Bridge, ensured the immediate rescue of one severely injured truck driver.

He said the driver was promptly transported to a nearby hospital in a Lagos State Government ambulance for urgent medical attention.

He, added that however, the remaining two truck drivers absconded from the scene, presumably out of fear of the grim aftermath.

“Investigations are currently underway to trace and apprehend the fleeing drivers involved in the fatal crash.

“To forestall further incidents and safeguard other road users, LASTMA personnel immediately cordoned off the affected stretch of the bridge and redirected vehicular traffic through the Coastain Roundabout inward Alaka en route to Stadium,” he said.

Bakare-Oki consoled the bereaved families, while expressing deep sorrow over the loss of innocent lives.

He reiterated the critical importance of responsible driving, particularly for operators of articulated vehicles.

The LASTMA boss urged all drivers to exercise utmost caution, maintain full alertness, and ensure their vehicles are roadworthy before commencing any journey.

Bakare-Oki further emphasised the agency’s ongoing, robust public enlightenment campaigns aimed at instilling safety consciousness among drivers, especially those operating heavy-duty vehicles.

Other emergency responders at the scene of the accident includes: Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services, Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LSNSC), State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) and Police man from Iporin Division of the State.

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Army probes alleged assault on female food vendor by soldier in Benue

The Nigerian Army has commenced an investigation into the alleged assault of a female food vendor identified as Dooshima, by one Private Christopher Emmanuel in Kula, Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State.

The incident which occurred on May 6, 2025 but was officially reported on May 8, is said to have stemmed from a disagreement over an unpaid debt.

Preliminary reports allege that the confrontation escalated after the soldier claimed the vendor insulted him during a phone conversation.

Acting Assistant Director Army Public Relations, 401 Special Forces Brigade, Makurdi, Captain Abdullahi Lawal Osabo, in a statement on assured the public that justice would be served and reaffirmed its zero tolerance for human rights violations.
He added that Private Emmanuel is currently in custody pending the outcome of the investigation.

“The Headquarters Operation WHIRL STROKE (OPWS) has taken cognizance of an incident involving Private Christopher Emmanuel and a female vendor, Doshima, which occurred on 6 May 2025 but reported on 8 May 2025, in Kula, Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State,” the statement read.

“According to reports, the incident may have stemmed from a dispute over an unpaid debt, with allegations suggesting that the soldier claimed the woman insulted him during a phone conversation. It is further alleged that this confrontation may have escalated into a physical altercation, which is now under thorough investigation.

“Private Christopher Emmanuel is currently in custody, and a thorough investigation will be conducted to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“The Nigerian Army has zero tolerance for human rights abuses and will take disciplinary action based on findings of the investigation.

“The leadership of the Nigerian Army assures the general public and the victim that justice will be served in line with the military’s high standards. OPWS strongly condemns any form of indiscipline or human rights abuse by its personnel.

“Members of the public are advised to report any instances of abuse by Nigerian Army personnel to the Human Rights Desk helpline instead of running to the social media in the first instance.

“All reports of infractions by Nigerian Army personnel are viewed seriously, investigated and sanctions applied where personnel are found culpable. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.”