Senate probes incarceration of 250 Nigerians in Ethiopian prison

The Senate has launched a probe into the circumstances surrounding the incarceration of 250 Nigerians in Ethiopian prison.

This followed a motion by the senate minority leader, Simon Mwadkwon, at the plenary yesterday.

A report making the rounds on social media said over 250 Nigerians are facing inhumanity and maltreatment in Ethiopia without committing any offense. The report called on the Nigerian government to intervene in the illegal incarceration of its citizens.

Mwadkwon while presenting his motion during the plenary said the reported incarceration of Nigerians was disturbing because it had no legal basis in the provision of international courts which Nigeria and Ethiopia are signatories.

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The minority leader urged the senate to immediately intervene and conduct a thorough investigation into the reasons for the incarceration of the 250 Nigerians in the Ethiopian maximum prison.

Senators, who contributed to the debate, supported the motion.

The Senate, therefore, directed its committees on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs to investigate the issue and report their findings within two weeks.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, in his remarks, condemned discrimination of Nigerians in other countries and urged relevant authorities to take the issue of Nigerians in the diaspora seriously.

He said, “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 reestablish the authorities of Nigeria; the largest black country in the world.”