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Three Nigerian Women Detained In Iraqi Prison Cry Out For Urgent Help To Return Home

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Three Nigerian women, 36-year-old Adetunji Opeyemi Elizabeth, 28-year-old Aladetan Rachael Tinuola and 24-year-old Adebayo Blessing Favour, who are currently in detention in prison in Karada, Baghdad, Iraq, for not having residence permits, have cried out to the Nigerian government for urgent help to return home.

Speaking with SaharaReporters in a phone interview organised by a human rights advocacy organisation in Nigeria, Hopes Haven Foundation, one of the detained women, Adetunji, however said that they were not trafficked to the Middle-East country, as they travelled to the country for a greener pasture but situation turned against their expectations.

Adetunji said, “We got arrested for not having resident permits. We came to Iraq through an agent,” adding that the agent in Nigeria, one Adekunle Oladiola, who “is like a brother to me,” processed her visa in Nigeria through which she travelled to Iraq.

However, she, like several others from Nigeria and other African countries, was picked up at the Iraq airport on her arrival by one agency which she said she doesn’t know the name of because it was written in Arabic language.

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“The person (the agent) is a brother to me. One of my cousins has been here (Iraq) for three years, and she has been working and that motivated me. I told my brother (Adekunle) to process my visa, which he did,” Adetunji told SaharaReporters.

She said that before she left Nigeria, “Things were not going well since I graduated far back in 2013 and I couldn’t get a good job. I thought that instead of going up and down in Nigeria doing what does not make sense, I decided to come (to Iraq) and hustle.

“When we got to the airport, they (people from the agency in Iraq) came and picked us. We didn’t even have access to check any name or anything. Once we entered the office, we have entered.

“Any time a customer needs us, they would come to the office and take us. There was no way to check the name of the office or anything.”

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Asked the kind of customers she meant, Adetunji said, “People from outside. They come and if they like any of us, they would take us to go and work with them.”

She said October 2024 made her two years in Iraq, meaning she has been in the country for two years and three months, but she was arrested in September 2024 before she completed two years of her stay in the country.

Asked the kind of work she was doing in Iraq before she was arrested, she said, “I told them when I was in Nigeria that I want to work in Salon and they said no problem, that they would get a salon for me.

“When I got here, they got me a salon but after two months, the woman said she didn’t want me again and she took me back to the office.

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“After she took me back to the office, I spent about five months in the office doing nothing. They couldn’t get me a job. They said they couldn’t get me a salon job except I would work in the house and I told them I cannot work in the house because I don’t want to work as a house help.

“I can only work in the salon and that is the only job I can do. They asked me to wait. One day they came and said they got a caregiving job for me at one place to be taking care of an old woman, and that there is an African lady there already who I will be doing it with.

“I had no choice but to accept since there is another lady there. When I was working there, there was a problem and my boss threatened to kill me. He told me he would make me go back to my country. I was scared.

“I said I came to hustle for my life and he wants to take my life, I won’t wait for that to happen to me. I said I wanted to go back to the office because he threatened to kill me. I got back to the office.”

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She however said that before the caregiving job was given to her, the office where she and others used to stay said they were closing down their business and that everyone should go back to their countries.

“They sent some people back to their countries – Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan because they couldn’t get them job.”

According to her, after her problem with her employer, she went back to the office “But the office said they don’t have a space for me to enter anymore. I had no choice but to go to away because it would have been very disastrous for me to go back to where I was working.

“The man can eliminate me immediately because his house is surrounded with guns. Here they use guns anyhow. So when the office said they don’t have space for me again, I sorted myself out.”

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Asked if the name of the office they used to stay and get jobs, she said the name of the office was written in Arabic and that they were never given any opportunity to take a photo or details of the office, adding that the office has completely been shut down.

She said, “We were not allowed to even go outside or do anything. And they have closed it now. They are no longer in operation for more than a year.”

She further explained that she is currently in prison not because her visa expired but because she and two other Nigerian women in the prison with her do not have residence permits.

According to her, “When they arrested us, they took us to the court and asked us if we have residence permits and we said it was not done for us. They said we will be going back to our country and we said we are ready to go back.

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“They brought us to the immigration and we still told them we are ready to go back to our country. That once they permit us to book our tickets, we will book our tickets. Now, they are not ready to book our tickets and I personally told them I’m ready to book my ticket but that is the problem because they have not allowed me to book my ticket.”

Asked how they are being treated in the prison, she said they are not being tortured but lamented that they are being fed with unhealthy foods.

“Presently we are three Nigerians here (Adetunji Opeyemi Elizabeth, Aladetan Rachael Tinuola and Adebayo Blessing Favour). Sometimes they bring spoiled foods. Many times.

“Personally, I go days without eating because I can’t cope with their food. At the station we were before, I used to call some of my friends to cook for me. Sometimes they cooked with their money, sometimes I sent them money.

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“But at the station we are now, sometimes they bring food that is not properly cooked. Foods that can damage our organs. Yet, we have been telling them we want to go and they have been postponing it. I asked if I should book my ticket but they said I should not book until they ask me to do so.

“I want to go because this place is not a good place for me. I discovered it after I got here. Any issue between a Black and the White here, they don’t even listen to the Black and they start maltreatment immediately.

“As I speak, I’m not feeling well at all and I told them from day one. I have been managing my health. I’m having severe back pain.I need doctor’s assistance. Let me go back to my country.

“They wanted to take me to the hospital here but I refused because they take people to hospital and give them treatment that doesn’t match their medical needs and some of them loss their lives.”

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Asked if they had reached out to any Nigerian community in Iraq considering the fact that Nigeria does not have an Embassy in Iraq, he said no.

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Just in: Popular Nigerian billionaire, E-Money nabbed by EFCC

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Naijablitznews reports that popular billionaire Emeka Daniel Okonkwo otherwise known as E-Money has been nabbed in Lagos by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC over alleged Naira abuse.

E-Money, who is the CEO of Emmy Cargoes Nigeria Limited and Five Star Music, was arrested in Lagos State for alleged abuse of the naira.

He is being investigated for allegedly spraying both Naira and US dollars at a party in Lagos in violation of Nigeria’s currency laws.

As at the time of filing this report the anti-graft agency has yet to issue an official statement regarding his arrest.

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Bitcoin firms push toward global currency shift as govts signal support

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By Francesca Hangeior

Bitcoin-focused investment firms are stepping into the spotlight as key players in a growing global movement toward the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency as a reserve asset.

Industry leaders and market analysts suggest that this shift—commonly referred to as “hyperbitcoinization”—could eventually displace traditional fiat currencies and redefine global financial systems.

Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream and the inventor of Hashcash, believes that firms holding Bitcoin in their treasuries are strategically positioning themselves ahead of this potential transformation. “

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Companies like Strategy are taking advantage of the gap between Bitcoin’s future potential and the current state of fiat money,” Back said.

He described the practice as a “logical and sustainable arbitrage” scalable enough to support large corporations transitioning their treasuries to Bitcoin.

One of the frontrunners in this strategy is Strategy, whose Bitcoin holdings have already generated over $5.1 billion in profit since the beginning of 2025, according to co-founder Michael Saylor.

The firm’s bullish stance on Bitcoin has been instrumental in legitimizing corporate treasury allocations into digital assets.

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Across the globe, Asia is also seeing a surge in institutional Bitcoin adoption. Metaplanet, often referred to as “Asia’s MicroStrategy,” recently surpassed 5,000 BTC in holdings and aims to acquire 21,000 BTC by 2026.

These moves illustrate the expanding geographical spread of institutional confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term viability.

At the regulatory level, the climate in the United States is becoming more favorable. The Federal Reserve recently reversed its 2022 guidance that had discouraged banks from engaging with cryptocurrencies. Michael Saylor welcomed the development, stating that U.S. banks “can now begin openly supporting Bitcoin without regulatory concerns.”

In an even more significant move, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a national Bitcoin reserve using BTC seized in criminal investigations. The initiative marks a historic moment in the relationship between government and cryptocurrency, signaling a new era of state-backed digital asset reserves.

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Bitcoin’s price growth is also outpacing inflation rates, bolstering the argument for its superiority over fiat currencies.

“Bitcoin’s price has been growing faster than traditional fiat currencies over four-year periods,” Back noted, emphasizing Bitcoin’s fixed supply and inflation resistance as core attributes driving its adoption.

As investment firms, multinational corporations, and now governments increasingly turn to Bitcoin, momentum is building for a future where Bitcoin could serve as a dominant global reserve currency.

With market experts projecting Bitcoin’s market cap could one day exceed $200 trillion, the financial world may be on the cusp of a historic transformation.

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Human rights attacks accelerated by Trump second term, says Amnesty

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By Francesca Hangeior

The global system of law and human rights is under threat from a “multiplicity of assaults” which have accelerated since US President Donald Trump’s return to power, Amnesty International said Tuesday in its annual report.

“Unprecedented forces are hunting down the ideals of human rights for all, seeking to destroy an international system forged in the blood and grief of World War Two and its Holocaust,” said the rights group’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard.

The lives of millions of people had been “devastated” in 2024 as a result of conflicts and abuses committed in the Middle East, Sudan, Ukraine and Afghanistan where women’s freedoms continue to be curtailed.

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The report singled out some of the world’s biggest powers such as the US, Russia and China for “undermining” the achievements of international law, as well as the fight against poverty and discrimination.

While these “reckless and punishing offensives” had been underway for several years, according to Amnesty, Trump had served as a “super-accelerator” of those trends.

The new administration has frozen US international aid and reduced its funding to several UN organisations.

The start of Trump’s second term had been marked by a “multiplicity of assaults — against human rights accountability, against international law, and against the UN”, Callamard said, calling for “concerted resistance”.

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“While international justice mechanisms have taken important steps towards accountability in some cases, powerful governments have repeatedly blocked attempts to take meaningful action to end atrocities,” Amnesty said.

In particular, it took aim at countries that had challenged decisions by the International Court of Justice in The Hague against Israel, following a complaint of “genocide” against the Palestinians in Gaza filed by South Africa.

Others, like Hungary, were criticised for refusing to enforce arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against several Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The year would be remembered for how “Israel’s military occupation grew ever more brazen and deadly” and how “the USA, Germany and a handful of other European states supported Israel”, the report added.

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Amnesty accused Israel of committing a “live-streamed genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza by forcibly displacing most of the population and deliberately creating a humanitarian catastrophe.

It said Israel had acted with “specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, thus committing genocide”. Israel has repeatedly denied such charges.

The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023 with an unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza resulting in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data.

Hamas also kidnapped 251 people, 58 of whom remain in the hands of the Islamist group, although the Israeli military says 34 are dead.

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In response, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and is conducting a military offensive that has left more than 52,000 dead, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

In December, Amnesty condemned the ongoing “genocide” in Gaza, an accusation since echoed by other NGOs such as HRW and Doctors Without Borders, but strongly rejected by Israel.

Amnesty also highlighted the suffering in Sudan from famine and a conflict between the regular army and the RSF paramilitaries.

The conflict had led to the “largest forced displacement crisis in the world” today, uprooting some 12 million people but had been met with “near-complete global indifference”, Amnesty said.

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On another front, the rights body said violence and discrimination against women had “soared” in 2024, both in conflicts, such as in Sudan, and in Afghanistan.

Women in the south Asian country are subject to draconian legislation restricting their freedoms under the Taliban.

Finally, the report highlighted an “urgent need” for governments to do more to regulate AI technologies to safeguard human rights.

It warned also that a growing number of governments were abusing spyware and other surveillance tools against opponents.

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