The Federal Government has defended its recent Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, saying the arrangement is aimed at allowing convicted Nigerian inmates to complete their jail terms in Nigeria under more humane conditions.
In a statement issued on Thursday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, Dr. Magnus Eze, the government also dismissed as fake a viral list claiming that 136 Nigerians were incarcerated in Ethiopian prisons, describing the figures and some of the offences attributed to the inmates as inaccurate.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said the agreement is in line with the citizen diplomacy policy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Administration, which places the welfare of Nigerians abroad at the centre of the country’s foreign policy.
According to the minister, the agreement enables convicted Nigerians serving prison terms in Ethiopia to be transferred home to serve the remainder of their sentences, while efforts are also being intensified to assist other Nigerians facing challenges in different parts of the world.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu explained that negotiations for the transfer arrangement had been ongoing for several years due to difficulties in establishing the actual number of Nigerians held in Ethiopian prisons. She noted that the inmates were spread across Kaliti and Aba Samuel maximum-security prisons and had repeatedly appealed to be returned to Nigeria.
The minister said many of the prisoners had complained of harsh living conditions, inadequate medical facilities, poor feeding, limited access to legal services, language barriers and restrictions on visitation rights.
“We have been working for so many years to get these prisoners back home to Nigeria. The inmates have been agitating for their return because of their precarious living conditions and other challenges,” she said.
She disclosed that four Nigerian inmates died while the two countries were finalising the agreement, stressing the need for urgent action to address the plight of the affected citizens.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu further allayed fears that the transferred inmates would be released upon their return to Nigeria, explaining that the Memorandum of Understanding contains provisions preventing either country from granting pardon or amnesty without the consent of the sentencing state.
The minister also dismissed claims that the inmates involved were drawn from a particular ethnic group or region of the country.
“The list trending online is a made-up list. We do not have 136 inmates in Aba Samuel and Kaliti prisons. Those covered by this agreement are 98 inmates. While many are from the South-East, there are also inmates from the South-West and South-South. Crime has no ethnicity. These are Nigerian citizens in a foreign jail,” she stated.
She reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to protecting Nigerians abroad and ensuring that citizens facing legal and humanitarian challenges receive necessary support through diplomatic channels.
