Minister, Ojukwu receives five Nigerian returnees from Cote D’Voire prison

Five young Nigerians who were detained in MACA Prison, Abidjan, Cote D’ Voire since August last year, and recently rescued by the Federal Government have returned to the country.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and was contained in a statement signed by Magnus Eze, her Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, on Wednesday.

The returnees were received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

The statement said Ojukwu alongside Director General of National Orientation Agency, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu and other government officials, received the returnees.

Six of them; Aliyu Malami, Nasiru Umar, Shamsu Abubakar, Sa’adu Bello, Lyman Mohammed and Usama Murtala, had gone on a trading trip from Sokoto to Abidjan by road, were arrested; incarcerated without charge or trial before the federal government’s intervention.

The statement said: “When their unfortunate circumstance was brought to the minister in April this year, she had quickly contacted the Nigerian Embassy in Abidjan.

“However, sustained engagements by the Nigerian Mission, and diplomatic interventions by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, culminated in securing their release.”

Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu explained that the Nigerian authorities were not informed of their detention, which delayed diplomatic intervention.

“There was no charge sheet. There was no trial. They were simply detained and taken to prison,” she said.

She attributed their ordeal partly to language barriers, saying the detainees were unable to communicate effectively or access legal representation in the French-speaking country.

The minister added: “They could not speak English in an environment where French was spoken. They never really stood a chance.”

She said Usama’s story represented what many Nigerians especially those on irregular migration suffer outside the country.

“Many of our prisoners overseas are vulnerable young people who leave home in search of opportunity, caught in a web of judicial or unjust systems they do not fully grasp and are subsumed under its weight.

“Usama’s story remains a painful reminder of how fragile life can be for young people who set out on these journeys to unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar systems without knowing what await them.

“We will be taking up the case with the Ivorian Authorities for compensation,” Odumegwu-Ojukwu said. 

She warned Nigerians against making such risky journeys in search of opportunities abroad, noting that many Nigerians imprisoned overseas were intercepted while transiting through foreign countries.

Ojukwu emphasised that the Federal Government’s intervention was in line with the Citizen Diplomacy initiative of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises the welfare and protection of Nigerians wherever they may be.

The minister, then, appealed to the Sokoto State Government to provide rehabilitation and skill acquisition opportunities for the five youths.

She noted that the Federal Government had already written to the Sokoto State Government, requesting support for the returnees through capacity-building programmes aimed at helping them rebuild their lives.

She said the young men had endured severe pain, trauma, and hardship, and deserved support to reintegrate into society.