FG receives five Nigerians detained in Côte d’Ivoire without trial

The Federal Government has received five Nigerians who spent nearly one year in detention in Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire, without being charged or tried.

The returnees arrived in Abuja on Thursday and were welcomed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport by officials of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), and the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said the young men were originally six in number and had travelled by road from Sokoto to Abidjan to engage in the phone parts business.

According to the minister, they were arrested under suspicious circumstances and detained at the MACA prison without being formally charged or taken to court.

The Federal Government has not yet provided further details on the circumstances surrounding the detention or the status of the sixth member of the group.

“Their unfortunate circumstances was brought to my attention in April this year, and when I contacted our embassy in Abidjan, I was dismayed to discover that they had not even been notified of their arrest by the authorities there,” Odumegwu-Ojukwu said.

The men, all in their 20s, were identified as Aliyu Malami, Sa’adu Bello, Nasiru Umar, Shamsu Abubakar, Lyman Mohammed, and Usama Murtala.

However, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Murtala fell ill while in detention and received inadequate medical attention, which worsened his condition.

According to the minister, Murtala was released from prison with others and was taken to a critical care hospital for treatment by officials of the Nigerian high commission. However, the intervention came too late.

“He died the next morning, far from home and family, oblivious to the fact that his mother and siblings in Sokoto were excitedly preparing for his return,” the minister said.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Murtala was buried the following in a cemetery on the outskirts of Abidjan, with his co-detainees and officials of the Nigerian high commission, in accordance with Islamic rites and at the request of his parents.

She said Nigeria would take up Murtala’s case with the Ivorian authorities

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