Do you know why many Nigerians are languishing in Ethiopian prisons despite efforts from the Nigerian side to repatriate them?
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has given a clear indication to this unacceptable state of affairs.
In a submission yesterday, Odumegwu-Ojukwu stated clearly that the delay was not from the Nigerian side.
“The ministry has fulfilled its own side of the formalities for the Transfer of Sentenced Persons MoU.
It is the Ethiopian side that is stalling,” she said through her media aide, Magnus Eze.
Her explanation was dozens of Nigerians still remained behind bars in Ethiopia because of delays in finalising a crucial Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and Ethiopia
The agreement if ratitified, she explained, would allow convicted Nigerians to serve the remainder of their sentences at home.
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Repeated diplomatic engagements and mounting pressure from civil society groups, has however not prevailed on the Addis Ababa government to see reason to ratify the agreement.
As at 2023, more than 270 Nigerians were serving various terms in Ethiopian prisons, mostly for drug-related offences, with the poor conditions of those prisons an additional reason for worry.
Expressing frustration over the situation, the minister stated that “Our people don’t want to hear that another Nigerian inmate died in Ethiopian prison”.
Cami Ezenwa is a writer, editor and concepts developer. He has worked with the Daily Times, Daily Independent, Financial Standard and Business Television, to mention a few.
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