According to the ‘United Nigerians in Diaspora,‘ a group of Nigerians living overseas, eight more Nigerians are facing the death penalty in Indonesia and are not waiting for their fate in the Indonesian prison, TheGuardian reports. Late last month, four Nigerians were executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking related offences. Click here if you missed it!
The group issued a communique to the press in Lagos on Tuesday, May 5th and gave the details of the 8 as Michael Titus Igwe, Kingsley Okonkwo, Uchenna Onyewuru, Eugene Ape, Hunphery Ejike, Obinna Nwajiagu, Benjamin Onuoha and Ikenna Abanukwu.
In his meeting with the press, Chairman of the group, Pascal Okolie asked for concerted governmental and inter-governmental pressure on the Indonesian government to stop the execution. He also stressed to his compatriots that drug trafficking is a fatalistic venture and wish to sensitize them on the danger of this venture.
“Considering that the next batch of execution will take place in no distant time in Indonesia, we urge the good people of Nigeria and our government to rise up with the entire world to stop further executions of Nigerians. Enough of the killings. Nigeria should leverage on the strong bilateral relationship it has with Indonesia and negotiate to stop the execution of the eight waiting to be killed. In as much as we totally condemn drug trafficking and wish to sensitize intending traffickers on the consequences that awaits offenders, we also condemn capital punishment especially since it has not been able to quell the issue of drug trafficking in Indonesia,” he said.
Mr Pascal also excoriated the government for doing little to ameliorate the plights of Nigerians languishing in foreign jails. Besides, he warned his compatriots to be aware of friendships (usually fellow Nigerians) who induce them into the get rich quick scheme. He painted a pitiful picture of Nigerians languishing in foreign jail citing language barrier as the main obstacle for them getting a fair trial.
“Most times Nigerians are thrown into prisons for more than four months without anyone knowing about it. They are tortured and some even die in the process. The way a country treats her citizens, is a reflection of how the citizens will be treated in foreign lands. Therefore, we feel it is high time our government rose to the occasion to ameliorate the plight of its citizens. We expected our government to show concern just like other countries whose nationals were involved. The way a government treats its citizens, is a reflection of how the citizens are likely to be treated in foreign lands. Therefore, we feel it is high time our government rose to the occasion to ameliorate the plights of its citizens no matter the circumstance. We use this opportunity to appeal to the youth, to beware of the kind of friendships they keep as well as activities they engage themselves. One of the reasons there are many young Nigerians in prisons in different countries of the world today, is due to get rich quick syndrome, fast track. But in the end, they lose everything including their lives,” he said
