Year: 2025

Armed Israeli security forces have forced the closure of three schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem. Hundreds of Palestinian students were sent home from the schools in Shuafat refugee camp just after classes began on Thursday morning. Unrwa’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, said Israeli authorities were denying children their basic right to learn and accused them of a “blatant disregard of international law”. An Israeli ban on Unrwa took effect earlier this year and Israel accuses the agency of being infiltrated by Hamas. Unrwa denies this claim and insists on its impartiality. Videos showed girls in uniform hugging each other outside one school in Shuafat following the arrival of Israeli forces outside. A closure order fixed to the wall of the school read: “It will be prohibited to operate educational institutions, or employ teachers, teaching staff or any other staff, and it will be forbidden to accommodate students or allow the entry of students into this institution.” Unrwa said that more than 550 pupils aged six to 15 were present and that one of its staff members was detained, in what its director in the occupied West Bank called “a traumatising experience for young children who are at immediate risk of losing their access to education”. The agency said that Israeli police were also deployed at three other schools in East Jerusalem, forcing them to send their students home too. “Storming schools and forcing them shut is a blatant disregard of international law,” Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. “These schools are inviolable premises of the United Nations.” He added: “By enforcing closure orders issued last month, the Israeli authorities are denying Palestinian children their basic right to learn. “Unrwa schools must continue to be open to safeguard an entire generation of children.” The Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank not under Israeli control, said the move was a “violation of children’s right to education”. The British consulate in Jerusalem said the UK, EU, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and Japan strongly opposed the closure orders issued against the Unrwa schools and stood “in solidarity with students, parents, and teachers”. “Unrwa has operated in East Jerusalem under its UN General Assembly mandate since 1950. Israel is obliged under international humanitarian law to facilitate the proper working of all institutions devoted to the education of children,” they added. Last year, Israel’s parliament passed laws forbidding contact between Israeli officials and Unrwa, as well as banning activity by the agency in Israeli territory. Israel captured East Jerusalem, along with the rest of the West Bank, in the 1967 Middle East war. It effectively annexed East Jerusalem in 1980 in a move not recognised by most of the international community, and sees the whole city as its capital. Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for future state. Approximately 230,000 Israeli settlers currently live in East Jerusalem alongside 390,000 Palestinians. Most of the international community considers the settlements built there and elsewhere in the West Bank to be illegal under international law – a position supported by an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year – although Israel disputes this.

Abuja, Nigeria – May 8, 2025 — Valentine Oyemike, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and owner of Valchi VFK Oriental Service Ltd, has filed a fundamental human rights lawsuit against the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and other parties over alleged unlawful actions taken during the investigation into the death of his employee, Fidelis Osaghae. Oyemike filed the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja on behalf of himself and two employees — Owiku Tracy and Cyprian Saamoyal — citing violations of their constitutional rights. The respondents listed in the suit include IGP Kayode Egbetokun, the Deputy IGP at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja, Assistant Superintendent of Police Adelogba Femi, and Esther Osaghae, widow of the deceased. Manager’s Death Under Scrutiny Fidelis Osaghae, 33, was the branch manager of a restaurant and bar owned by Oyemike in Auchi, Edo State. He died on July 29, 2024, at the workplace under circumstances that remain unclear. According to his wife, Esther, Osaghae left home early that morning and never returned. Hours later, she was summoned to Favour Hospital, where she was taken to the mortuary and shown his lifeless body. Esther said she was told by Oyemike that her husband had consumed Sniper, a chemical substance commonly associated with suicide. However, she disputed the claim, saying her husband had no known history of depression and that the couple had just welcomed a baby two months prior. “I’m not saying Oyemike killed my husband,” she said. “But my husband died at his place of work with marks on his body. I just want to know the truth about his death.” Legal Demands In the suit, Oyemike is seeking: Autopsy Dispute and Fresh Probe Oyemike has maintained that the original autopsy confirmed Osaghae’s death was caused by ingestion of a toxic substance. However, human rights organizations, including the Akin Fadeyi Foundation (AFF), FIDA Nigeria, and Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), have questioned the credibility of the report, citing inconsistencies such as unexplained marks on the body and bloodstains on the deceased’s clothing. Following public outcry, a coroner’s inquest ordered a fresh autopsy. Oyemike has challenged the order in court, asking that the original autopsy be upheld. The human rights groups have accused the APC chieftain of attempting to frustrate the investigation, arguing that a second autopsy is essential and lawful, even if it requires exhuming the body. The case is expected to proceed in the coming weeks as calls for justice and transparency continue to mount.