Nigeria summons Ivorian envoy over Nigerian’s death in prison, demands compensation

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has summoned the Ivorian Ambassador to Nigeria, Kalilou Traore, over the death of a Nigerian national, Usama Murtala, following his incarceration in a prison in Côte d’Ivoire.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu demanded an explanation and compensation from the Ivorian authorities over the circumstances surrounding Murtala’s death.

According to a statement issued on Friday by the minister’s media aide, Dr. Magnus Eze, the meeting with the ambassador was held at the minister’s office.

Murtala and five other Nigerians—Aliyu Malami, Nasiru Umar, Shamsu Abubakar, Sa’adu Bello and Liman Mohammed—travelled by road from Sokoto to Abidjan on a trading trip in August last year. They were arrested upon arrival and detained at MACA Prison in Abidjan without being charged or tried.

The five surviving Nigerians were recently released following sustained engagements by the Nigerian Mission and diplomatic interventions by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

While receiving the five survivors at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Tuesday night, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the Federal Government would pursue the matter with the Ivorian authorities and seek compensation over Murtala’s death.

He stated, “Odumegwu-Ojukwu sought explanation from the Ivorian envoy why the Nigerian authorities were not informed of their detention, thereby delaying diplomatic intervention.

“She described the young men as people on a mere trading trip who also had the impediment of communicating effectively due to language barriers. They did not also have access to legal representation in the French-speaking country.

“These young men were simply detained and taken to prison.

“For these months, they had poor nutrition as they were fed once a day. Two of them were critically ill and one eventually died.

“Nobody could give reasons why they were arrested and detained for so long without trial or charge,” the minister said.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu told the Ambassador that the seized phones, goods, money and other property of the traders were not handed back to them even after their release.

“She further informed the envoy that the returnees had gone back to their state of origin, Sokoto.

The minister stated: “It’s important that we communicate this to you. They have gone back to Sokoto, their state of origin, but the sad memory of the death of their colleague will linger.

“We want you to communicate this to the authorities in Abidjan. This should be properly investigated; it should be probed. And anytime there are issues involving our nationals, the Embassy in Abidjan should be informed. We are aware of what language barriers could cause.

“So, we seek compensation for the dead young man’s family and a commitment that Cote d’ Ivoire going forward will treat our nationals with dignity.”

Responding, Ambassador Traore expressed condolences to the family of the deceased Nigerian national and the country as a whole.

He assured that he will communicate the concerns of Nigeria to Abidjan as soon as possible. (The Nation)