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FG set to investigate cases of 27 Nigerians in Tanzanian prisons

By Terhemba Daka, Abuja
10 May 2018   |   2:59 am
The Federal Government yesterday said it would go ahead to investigate the cases of 27 Nigerians said to be languishing without trial in Tanzanian prisons. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said this at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, during an audience with former Chairman of the Law Society…


The Federal Government yesterday said it would go ahead to investigate the cases of 27 Nigerians said to be languishing without trial in Tanzanian prisons.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said this at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, during an audience with former Chairman of the Law Society Charity Organisation, Nigel Doddy, who alerted on the predicament of the 27 Nigerians in Tanzanian prisons without trial.

Doddy, a citizen of the United Kingdom (UK), said he ran into these cases while on a humanitarian work to Tanzanian prisons and urged the Nigerian government to step in and ensure that the Nigerians in that country get justice.

He said: “I’m here to follow up on some reports I gathered in Tanzania two years ago concerning Nigerians being detained without trial. I was able to identify 27 Nigerians who were detained at the time without trial.”

The human rights activist said that Tanzanian lawyers had been extorting monies from those Nigerians in prisons without rendering commensurate services.

Doddy, who also complained of rampant stereotype issues against any Nigerian entering Tanzania, called on the Nigerian government to exact pressure on officials of Tanzania to respect their own rules even though diplomatic missions cannot interfere with judicial processes of other countries.

Meanwhile, Dabiri-Erewa has assured that the Nigerian government “will look at these matters and ensure that justice is done quickly.”

She said the new Nigeria High Commissioner in Tanzania would be alerted to take up the issues just as she appealed to Nigerians wherever they go to continue to remain good ambassadors of Nigeria.

According to her, a percentage of bad eggs in the society should not lead to the entire nation being stereotyped, stressing that they were also good Nigerians portraying the country in a good light.

She said the woman sentenced to life imprisonment in Tanzania would have to serve her jail term there, as there is no transfer treaty between Nigeria and Tanzania.

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