The Federal Government has clarified why it recently signed the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

This was as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has assured Nigerians living in South Africa that no citizen willing to return home will be abandoned, with the June 30 deadline set by anti-migrant groups for undocumented foreigners to leave the country drawing near.

In a statement by the Special Assistant on Communication and New Media to the Minister, Dr Magnus Eze, the minister explained that the important diplomatic milestone aligned with the citizen diplomacy policy of the Renewed Hope Administration of President Bola Tinubu, which prioritises the Nigerian Diaspora.

She disclosed that efforts were being made to intervene in the cases of other Nigerians imperilled in parts of the world.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu dismissed as fake the purported list circulating in various media platforms as the names and numbers of Nigerian inmates in Ethiopian prisons, insisting that Nigeria did not have 136 inmates in that country. The minister also described some of the crimes attributed to them as a “wild tangent.”

She said the government was determined to bring the inmates home to serve their sentences with dignity without exposing them to inhuman conditions.

Disclosing that the efforts to secure the prisoner transfer deal started a long time ago, the minister stated that Nigerian inmates in Ethiopia had variously complained of precarious conditions there.

She said: “We have been working for so many years to get these prisoners back home to Nigeria. We had difficulties because it was hard to actually get the number of prisoners in Ethiopia. Now, in those prisons, they were spread across the Kaliti and Aba Samuel prisons; these are maximum-security prisons. We needed to sign this agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons.

“Essentially, what it means is that if prisoners have been sentenced and jailed in one country, they can return to their state or country of origin to serve out the sentence. This is very important because the inmates in those prisons have been agitating for so many years to return to complete their jail terms.”

This is in view of their precarious living conditions, health challenges, inadequate medical facilities, poor feeding and denial of visitation rights. They didn’t have adequate legal services, and there was also a language barrier, among other things. So, really, we had to expedite action.”

FROM South Africa, the first batch of 258 repatriated Nigerian nationals arrived in Lagos on the penultimate Thursday. A second batch was expected on Monday, but was later postponed. Four more repatriation flights are scheduled.

In a statement issued by Eze, the minister noted that Tinubu issued a directive mandating that every Nigerian who voluntarily indicated willingness to return home must leave before the deadline.

About 1,000 Nigerians have expressed interest in returning, according to the minister.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Nigeria was actively engaging South African authorities through diplomatic channels and broader actions.

She, however, noted that the National Assembly “has a constitutional role” to play in determining Nigeria’s response should diplomatic engagements fail to halt the attacks on Nigerians and their businesses.

“When it comes to situations like this, of course, it is necessary to be temperate and cautious. But when your citizens are being harassed, when your citizens are people who have spent years there – mind you, some of them are married to South Africans and have children who have known no other home but South Africa – then it becomes a serious concern,” the minister was quoted as saying.

“Now, under these circumstances, they are asking not just Nigerians, but also their South African spouses and their children, to leave South Africa. As I indicated before, there are these huge conglomerates; over 120 South African companies operating in Nigeria. Nobody is asking them to provide proof of identity. Nobody is asking South African staff working there whether they are South Africans or Nigerians, and nobody is taking over their shops or businesses.”

She cited MTN, MultiChoice, Stanbic, Protea, and many other South African brands across multiple sectors, noting that Nigeria might be forced to review its options.