This definitely is not the best of times for Nigeria especially as it regards her international image. The country’s image crisis is largely enclosed in the unfortunate perception of the citizens as criminals just because of wrong acts by a few unpatriotic individuals.

Stories about Nigerian nationals serving various jail sentences, those who have died mysteriously in foreign prisons, as well as individuals either on death row or have been executed particularly for trafficking drugs in foreign countries, are no longer new. And that’s how bad things have become!

Dr Paul Ezike’s video on the alleged plight of Nigerian inmates in the notorious Kaliti Prison in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, is upsetting. It again, brings to the fore the precarious situations Nigerians are subjected to abroad for one reason or the other; or no reason at all, except for being Nigerian.

In addition to the heart-rending number of Nigerians executed for drug trafficking in countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, China, Thailand, Malaysia and many others, there are reports about many who died while serving jail terms for no known crime. Just this year, there were the pathetic cases of Ms Favour Chizoba and Mr. Joachim Uchenna Nwanneneme, who died in questionable manners, leaving no doubt in the minds of people that their deaths were not natural. They both died in the same Kaliti prison. Isn’t this evident that people could be right about that prison?

In the viral video, Dr Ezike stated that if nothing is done, more than 250 Nigerians will die, while calling on Nigerians and relevant authorities to intervene. Most of the prisoners, Ezike said are innocent travellers passing through Ethiopia airport which is a transit hub.

According to him, “Once you have a green passport, you are like a suspect. They will keep you aside, delay you and make you miss your flight. Get you angry and once you start agitating and agitating they will tell you well, you need to pay $5,000 to get another flight back to your country. When you don’t have the money and you complain that they searched you and found nothing, delayed you and made you miss your flight… When you talk so much, they will take you straight to the hospital and when they check and find nothing, they take you straight to prison.” While the traveller is in prison, Ezike said they will serve him a paper showing that he will serve 18 to 20 years imprisonment without taking him to the court.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already refuted the allegations of the video by Ezike, on the alleged plight of Nigerian inmates in the Kaliti Prison in Ethiopia, stating that “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers Dr. Ezike’s narration as exaggerated and blown out of proportion, while his assertion of inaction by the Nigerian Mission in Addis Ababa to the alleged plight of Nigerian inmates, is unfair and misleading.”

The 250 Nigerians in prison that Ezike mentioned in his video, for whatever reason, is less than the number stated by the same ministry of Foreign Affairs. Whichever, whether over 250 or 270, this is disastrous and shameful enough for this country.

The important thing is that the ministry agrees that there are over 270 Nigerian nationals serving various prison terms in Ethiopia alone, though it added that most are incarcerated for drug related offences. “There are over 270 Nigerian nationals serving various prison terms in Ethiopia. Most of them are incarcerated for drug related offences. The Nigerian Mission in Addis Ababa, as with other Nigerian Missions world over, embarks on regular consular visits to these prisons to ascertain and attend to the wellbeing of Nigerian inmates, and in the same vein engage with host authorities on their behalf.”

Those over 270 Nigerians are in Ethiopia alone! How incredible it will be when the number of Nigerians in prisons all over the world is revealed. This is what the leaders have brought upon the citizens. If as a country hugely endowed with both human and natural resources, Nigeria has honest and dedicated leaders to give its citizens good governance, ‘japa’ syndrome (local parlance for relocating abroad) which has now escalated wouldn’t be happening. And even if individuals decide to travel abroad, it will be for legal and good reasons as many have done; not to engage in crime.

Still in its statement, the ministry said, “The Ethiopian authorities on the other hand, have always maintained that Nigerian inmates are not treated differently from other inmates, Ethiopian inmates inclusive. Scarce resources and budgetary constraints, amidst the growing number of inmates, often feature as the main challenge for the prison authorities.” From the ‘defence’ of the ministry of foreign affairs, Ethiopia is blaming their ‘scarce resources and budgetary constraints’ as responsible for the poor condition of the inmates. So, why does it look like they enjoy throwing travellers into prison for no just cause?

A March 2023 report by The Ancestral News, provides a vivid picture of what Kaliti prison, one of the most notorious prisons in Ethiopia, looks like. “…Ethiopia’s justice system has been criticised for its lack of transparency, due process and fair trial as well as poor prison conditions and treatment of inmates; this has been a subject of concern and controversy for many years, with reports of overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate medical care, and abuse.” Again, if Ethiopia is overwhelmed by huge challenges as stated above, why do they keep jam-packed prisons?

The heart-rending case of Favour Chizoba, who died on March 12, 2023 is still fresh in people’s memory. The account of Ezike about how the young lady was maltreated and allegedly battered by Ethiopia’s Kaliti prison officials, leading to her untimely demise has been reported in different media.

According to the statement by the ministry, it is because of cases like Chizoba’s that it is making arrangements for Nigerian inmates to complete their terms in the country. “It is in this regard, that the Federal Government of Nigeria, in response to the demands of Nigerian inmates, is in the process of concluding a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Transfer/Exchange of Prisoners with the Ethiopian Government. When finalized, this will enable Nigerian Inmates to complete their jail terms in Nigeria, where their family members could complement the government’s efforts towards their maintenance in prison.

This will be particularly beneficial to inmates with underlying illnesses. For instance, information obtained by the Nigerian Mission in Addis Ababa from the Federal Prison Hospital, Kaliti regarding the death of Ms. Favour Chizoba on 12th March, 2023, revealed that she died of cardiac arrest, having had a history of hypertension and cardiac disease.” But what was Favour’s crime?

Also responding to one of the cases mentioned by Dr Ezike, the ministry explained that, “Similarly, on the death of Mr. Joachim Uchenna Nwanneneme, a Nigerian inmate in the same Kaliti Prison on 22nd September, 2023 the official report indicated he died of kidney failure. He was previously diagnosed with tuberculosis, which according to the hospital officials, prompted his isolation.” Again, what offence did the Ethiopian authorities say he committed before throwing him into jail? According to Ezike, Nwanneneme who was just transiting through Ethiopia was stopped, delayed and thrown into prison afterwards, contracted Tuberculosis in the Kaliti prison housing “over 500 Africans including sick and mad Ethiopians”. Could the young man truly be a victim of undue profiling of Nigerians happening across international borders? The Nigerian government needs to investigate this thoroughly.

“Being a transit hub, Ethiopia’s Bole International Airport receives massive movement of passengers and cargo to over 127 international destinations daily. There are, therefore, reported cases of daily interceptions of drug traffickers. Sadly, Nigerians have been identified as major culprits. This has contributed to the undue profiling and ill-treatment of a few innocent Nigerians transiting the Airport. It is however, an exaggeration for Dr. Ejike to claim that all holders of the Nigerian green passport are subjected to profiling at the Bole International Airport, which receives four commercial flights from Nigeria daily with over 2 thousand passengers,” The ministry stated further. This again, is proof that there is indeed, undue profiling of innocent travellers at the Bole airport which probably leads to incarceration of some of them.

It beats one hollow why Nigerians are subjected to humiliation, physical assaults, imprisonment and killings in foreign countries in spite of the existing mutual diplomatic relations with these countries. Maybe the Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to listen to other Nigerians, not only Dr Ezike to find out how they suffer stereotypes in foreign countries. It is high time the government began to act decisively and uncompromisingly while complying with international diplomacy to defend the course of her citizens across the globe.

This is where the move to investigate Ezike’s story by the Senate is a welcome development. Nigerians expect the ministry to have moved in and done thorough checks on citizens in Ethiopian prisons before responding to Dr Ezike’s video.

The urgency in the video has, however, led to calls by the Nigerian Senate to investigate the alleged killings and imprisonment of the over 250 Nigerians in Ethiopia.

The move came on Wednesday as a result of a motion, titled: “Urgent need to investigate the unlawful killings and incarceration of over 250 Nigerians in Ethiopia”. It was sponsored by the Minority Leader, Senator Simon Mwadkwon, (PDP Plateau North), and Senator Victor Umeh (YPP Anambra Central). Also contributing to the debate, a Federal Lawmaker Senator Abdul Ningi, harped on the urgent need for the Upper Chamber to investigate the matter to establish the true situation of the Nigerians in Ethiopian prisons.

While presenting the motion, Mwadkwon advised the Senate to direct the Committees on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs to liaise with the Federal Government to come up with a committee that will investigate the matter in Ethiopia.

“The video clip being circulated in the social media indicates that Nigerians are held captives in the maximum prison of Ethiopia and are in serious peril, which calls for an urgent intervention and thorough probe,” Mwadkwon said.

He added that “Based on the widespread information being circulated, over 250 Nigerians who have continued to face this maltreatment and inhumanity have not committed any crime known to any law and there is no evidence of any court proceedings stating the categories of crimes they have committed or any court conviction in that regard.

“It is pathetic that a nation as populous as Nigeria, the giant of Africa, our citizens are being held in captivity in the 21st century where the call is for unity among nation-states but quite lugubriously that Ethiopia has chosen shallow path to maltreat and mistreat the citizens of Nigeria without any justification as shown in a video by Dr. Paul Ezike.” (Vanguard)

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