AGROUP,
United Nigerians In Diaspora, UNID, has called on the Federal Government to
prevail on the Indonesian government to stay action on its plans to execute
eight more Nigerian citizens for drug related offences.
Briefing
newsmen in Lagos, the group’s president, Mr. Paschal Okolie, condemned what it
described as the poor attitude of the government towards the recent execution
of four Nigerians in Indonesia.
His
words: ”Considering that the next batch of execution will take place in no
distant time in Indonesia, we urge the good people of Nigeria and our
government to rise up with the entire world to stop further executions of
Nigerians. Enough of the killings. Nigeria should leverage on the strong
bilateral relationship it has with Indonesia and negotiate to stop the
execution of the eight waiting to be killed. In as much as we totally condemn
drug trafficking and wish to sensitise intending traffickers on the
consequences that awaits offenders, we also condemn capital punishment
especially since it has not been able to quell the issue of drug trafficking in
Indonesia.”
Okolie
who gave names of those awaiting further execution as, Michael Titus Igwe,
Kingsley Okonkwo, Uchenna Onyewuru, Eugene Ape, Hunphery Ejike, Obinna
Nwajiagu, Benjamin Onuoha and Ikenna Abanukwu, said, ”Nigerian Embassy in
Indonesia is longer concerned with passport renewals than the welfare or
security of Nigerians. Those Nigerians killed were not giving fair trial, there
is language barrier which made it impossible for them to defend themselves
properly, Nigerian embassy did not even send representatives to court to assist
them, so they were left at the mercy of Indonesia which was bent on killing
them.”
‘’Most
times Nigerians are thrown into prisons for more than four months without
anyone knowing about it. They are tortured and some even die in the process.
The way a country treats her citizens, is a reflection of how the citizens will
be treated in foreign lands. Therefore, we feel it is high time our government
rose to the occasion to ameliorate the plight of its citizens.’’
Source Vanguard.
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