Concerns have been raised by the Federal Government regarding the living conditions of Nigerians serving prison sentences in Ethiopia.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, highlighted on Wednesday that the majority of Nigerians detained in Ethiopia were taken there for drug-related offenses.
This information was released in a statement on Wednesday that was signed by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the spokesperson for the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission.
Dabiri-Erewa disclosed that, “the Nigerian Mission in Ethiopia has proposed an MOU from the Nigerian Correctional Service on transfer of sentenced persons to Nigeria with the Ethiopian authorities to complete their respective jail terms in Nigeria, and are awaiting a response from Ethiopia.
“Though Ethiopia had granted an amnesty to Nigerian prisoners in 2019, a number of Nigerians still found their way back to the country and allegedly still committed the same drug-related crimes and were re-arrested.”
A complete investigation into the events leading up to the death of a Nigerian, Chizoba Eze, in an Ethiopian prison was ordered at the time by the Federal Government and the Nigerian Mission in Ethiopia.
According to reports, Eze passed away on March 12, 2023, in Kaliti Prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as a result of an alleged violent altercation. Dabiri-Erewa expressed sympathy to Eze’s family, then expressed worry over the treatment of Nigerians detained in Ethiopian jails.
