Drug Trafficking: Nigerian on death row in Indonesia freed after years in jail

Emmanuel Ihejirika, a Nigerian man sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Indonesia, has been released after spending several years in prison.

His release came after his case was taken up pro bono by a Nigerian lawyer based in Washington, D.C., Mr. Emmanuel Isha Ogebe.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), praised Mr. Ogebe for his selflessness and dedication in handling the case.

According to Gabriel Odu of NiDCOM’s Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, the commendation came during a meeting between Dabiri-Erewa and Ogebe in Washington, D.C.

“Several years back, a delegation from Nigeria, headed by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Ojo Madueke, which included Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, then a member of the House of Representatives, and former Chairman NDLEA, Mr. Ipinmosho, among others, had visited Indonesian prisons to plead for clemency for 21 Nigerians on death row convicted for drug trafficking,” Odu stated in a statement on Friday. “Four of them have been executed along with an Indonesian and British citizen.”

Ogebe had approached Dabiri-Erewa for her intervention in Ihejirika’s case, which he believed to be a case of mistaken identity.

He offered his services pro bono and pursued the matter up to the Supreme Court, resulting in Ihejirika being released in December.

Dabiri-Erewa reiterated that the penalty for drug trafficking in Indonesia is death and urged Nigerians to stay away from crime.

She praised Ogebe for his pro bono efforts and commended the Nigerian Charge D’Affaires in Indonesia, Ms. Patricia Alechenu, for her unwavering support.

Ogebe, in his remarks, thanked Dabiri-Erewa for her continued support “right from her days as a member of the House of Representatives.”

He described her as “a morale booster” for Nigerians in the Diaspora and pledged to continue collaborating with her and the NiDCOM team.

Indonesia’s last executions by firing squad took place in 2016, involving four men, including three foreign nationals. In 2015, 14 prisoners on death row were executed, including 12 foreigners and one Indonesian female.

False Identity
However, a search online by The Guardian uncovered news articles from at least two websites in Bali, a province in Indonesia and an Australian website, describing one 31-year-old Emmanuel O Ihejirika as a Sierra Leonean man, who was convicted in Bali in 2004 for attempting to smuggle 461 grams of heroin concealed in his alimentary tract.

The three websites — The Bali Sun, Bali Discovery and Australia’s SBS — added that his death sentence was commuted to a 20-year prison term.

The SBS, however, described Ihejirika “as convicted Nigerian drug trafficker Titus Ani,” it added: “Charged as Emmanuel O Iheijrika from Sierra Leone, his lawyers argue Ani is not the person he was sentenced as, a recidivist drug importer, ‘Emmanuel’, but a first offender with mitigating circumstances.

“Under Indonesian law, if a person is charged under a false identity, he could be freed – invoking an error in persona, says, Frans Winata, one of Ani’s Indonesian lawyers who represented Rush.

“The defendant is not the correct person to be tried. The name in his passport is Titus Ani.”

Reports showed that Emmanuel was arrested in 2004 after swallowing 31 condom capsules containing 461 grams of heroin. Indonesian customs officials forced him to undergo x-rays at a Bali hospital, leading to his trial and initial life sentence in 2005.

When Emmanuel’s case was appealed to a higher court, his life sentence was replaced with a death sentence by firing squad. In 2014, his name appeared on a list of prisoners set for imminent execution. However, the execution was delayed after his Bali lawyers, Robert Khuwana and Frans Hendra Winata, filed another appeal to the High Courts.

Speaking on Monday, 13 September 2021, Robert Khuwana said to RadarBali.com: “With the appeal decision of 20 years in prison, Emmanuel, who has been in jail since 2004, can be freed in 2024.”