Senate orders investigation into incarceration of 250 Nigerians in Ethiopian prisons

The Senate on Wednesday directed its Committees on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incarceration of 250 Nigerians in the Republic of Ethiopia.

The Senate also mandated the committees to report their findings back to the Senate within two weeks.

This is sequel to a motion moved by the Senate Minority Leader, Simon Mwadkwon, at the plenary on Wednesday.

A report by one Paul Ezekiel has been circulating on the internet that over 250 Nigerians are facing maltreatment in Ethiopia without committing any offence.

Some Nigerians have taken to the social media calling on the federal government to intervene in the illegal incarceration of the people by the Ethiopian government.

Mr Mwadkwon while presenting his motion during the plenary stressed that the social media report is disturbing because it has no legal basis in the provision of international courts which Nigeria and Ethiopia are signatories to.

“Based on the sovereignty of this country and the sanctity of lives and properties of all Nigerians all over the world as captured in the Nigerian constitution especially section 33, 34 and 35 of the 1999 constitution as amended which have similar provisions in order international courts, instruments and convention which the Nigerian and the Ethiopian are signatories to. There is no justification whatsoever for taking away the dignity of any person let alone taking away the life of a citizen.

“The Senate it’s pathetic that a nation as populous as Nigeria, its citizens are being held in captivity in the 21st century where the call is for unity but Ethiopia has chosen a shallow part to maltreat citizens of Nigeria without any justification as shown in the video,” he said.

The minority leader urged the Senate to immediately intervene in the crisis and conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the imprisonments.

When the motion was thrown to debate, majority of the senators supported it.

Mohammed Mongunu (Borno North) who seconded the motion stressed that the major function of a government is to protect lives and properties of its citizens.

“Our diplomatic cornerstone is supposed to be citizen-driven diplomacy. Nigerians, wherever they are should be the centrepiece of our diplomatic relation, they should be citizen-centered because even our constitution gives primacy to the protection of lives and properties and that is the essence of government.

“Any government that fails or neglects to perform that primary duty for protecting the lives and interest of its citizens, that government should not last a minute, not longer than action which is necessary,” Mr Mongunu said.

Titus Zam (Benue North-west) called on the Nigerian government to liaise with the Ethiopian embassy and find a way to secure the freedom of Nigerians serving jail terms in the Ethiopian maximum prison.

“It touches on the fundamental rights of Nigerians both at home and diaspora. Though we are not properly educated about the nature of offences or crimes committed by Nigerians who are on the death list in Ethiopia, I think humanity requires us to seek to protect any Nigerian wherever they are.

“I support that urgent steps be taken in liaison with the Ethiopian embassy in Nigeria to find ways of resolving this matter without sacrificing any single Nigerian in spite of whatever the situation might be over there.”

Others who contributed to the motion are Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central), Sumaila Kala (Bauchi North) and Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto South).

Discrimination

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, in his remarks after directing the Senate committees to investigate the issue, also condemned discrimination of Nigerians in other countries.

He urged relevant authorities to take the issue of Nigerians in diaspora seriously.

“The life of every Nigerian matters a lot and I also use this opportunity to urge the relevant authorities of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to take the lives of Nigerians very seriously both in Nigeria and in the diaspora.

“I am aware that many Nigerians are suffering discrimination in places like South Africa and some of the countries have even stopped receiving green passports, saying that they cannot use the green passports to enter their countries and some of those countries are not even up to the size of Enugu State.

“I think it is important that while looking at this issue, we should also take steps to re-establish the authorities of Nigeria, the largest black country in the world.”

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