Nigerians in Ethiopia under peril, torture — Senate
…Moves to probe killings, illegal detention of 250 Nigerians
The Nigerian Senate has drawn attention to what it has described as “heinous” attacks on Nigerians in Ethiopia, saying alleged ongoing killings and detention of Nigerians in the Country is an act of “inhumanity and torture” that calls for urgent intervention.
The Upper Chamber, consequently, has swung into action, making attempts to investigate the alleged killings and imprisonment of over 250 Nigerians in Ethiopia.
The move of the Senate followed a motion, titled, ‘Urgent need to investigate the unlawful killings and incarceration of over 250 Nigerians in Ethiopia,’ sponsored by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Simon Mwadkwon, member of the Peoples Democratic Party, representing Plateau North, and Senator Victor Umeh, member of the Young Progressives Party, representing Anambra Central.
Presenting the motion, Mwadkwon urged the Senate to direct the Committees on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs to work with the Federal Government to immediately constitute a committee to visit the Republic of Ethiopia with a view to investigating what is happening to Nigerians in the Country.
He also called on the FG to immediately direct the Ethiopian embassy to collaborate with the delegation of the Senate Committees on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs to find a lasting solution to problems being faced and/or encountered by Nigerians who are held in Ethiopia.
“The video clip being circulated in the social media indicates that Nigerians are held captives in the maximum prison of Ethiopia and are in serious peril which calls for urgent intervention and thorough probe into the heinous activities,” he said.
Lamenting that the act was coming at a time when calls for unity among nations of the world have become pronounced, the Senate leader said, “There is widespread information currently being circulated by Dr. Paul Ezike calling the Nigerian government to intervene on the inhumanity and torture that Nigerians are receiving in Ethiopia without evidence from the commission of any crime.”
He added that “based on the widespread information being circulated that over 250 Nigerians who have continued to face these maltreatment and inhumanity have not committed any crime known to any law and there is no evidence of any court proceedings, stating the categories of crimes they have committed or any court conviction in that regard.”
He further noted that “at the moment based on the sovereignty of this country and the sanctity of the lives and properties of all Nigerians all over the world as captured in the Nigerian constitution especially sections 33, 34 and 35 of the 1999 constitution, as amended, which has similar provisions in other international codes, instruments and conventions which Nigeria and Ethiopia are signatories to, there is no justification whatsoever for taking away the dignity of any person, let alone taking away the life of a citizen.
“In the midst of the economic and social hardships being experienced by our citizens, some over 250 people who belong to this nation are currently being subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment which calls for urgent intervention of these hallowed chambers as the lives of those 250 people matter most to us.
“It is pathetic that a nation as populous as Nigeria, the giant of Africa, our citizens are being held in captivity in the 21st century where the call is for unity among nation-states but quite lugubriously that Ethiopia has chosen shallow path to maltreat and mistreat the citizens of Nigeria without any justification as shown in a video by Dr. Paul Ezike.”
