The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, His Excellency Adnan Mahmoud Bostaji, has said that he was confident that the recently released detainees, Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar, who were arrested on drug-related charges would be freed.
He said this during an iftar organized by the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Abuja on Tuesday.
“I was confident that they would be released in the end because I followed up with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria and worked with them on the case.
“The laws of the Saudi Arabia are based on justice and innocent people deserve to be freed,” the ambassador said.
He also noted that the execution of Mrs. Kudirat Adesola Afolabi who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia in November 2018, was undoubtedly guilty and that the Nigerian government also acknowledged her guilt of attempting to smuggle drugs into the country.
Ambassador Bostaji also made a call to Nigerian airport officials to take more stern measures to prevent a reoccurrence of similar cases.
In the same vein, the ambassador also called for more enlightenment programmes for Nigerian pilgrims to fully understand the punishment that smuggling carries before they travel.
“Nigerian pilgrims need to know that this is a very serious thing that carries dangerous consequences,” the envoy added.
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