by Rachel Ogbu

President Goodluck Jonathan’s mediation on February 2, for a stay of execution in respect of Nigerians on death row in the Asian country when President Susilo Yudhoyono of Indonesia came on a two-day visit to Nigeria is yet to be granted as new reports claim that 48 Nigerians are reportedly on death row for drug-related offences in Indonesia soon.

Chairman, Committee on Diaspora Affairs of the House of Representatives, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said there was still much more the Federal Government could do to save the lives of Nigerians on death row, in Asia and across the world.

Dabiri-Erewa said that there were 25 international treaties on human rights and related matters still waiting for domestication and that Brazil had made a request for mutual agreement on suspects and criminals with Nigeria but the federal government had not responded yet.

“Around 2010, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ojo Maduekwe, led a Nigerian delegation that included representatives of the House, the Senate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency, etc, to Indonesian prisons. We met 21 Nigerian condemned prisoners, out of which 19 were from Anambra State,” she said.

“The Indonesian government made us to understand that the law of their land states that drug-related offences attract death penalty. They however agreed to stay execution, which is why the Nigerians have not been executed till today. What if the Indonesian President did not come, it means nothing would have been heard or done about them.”
The Punch reports:

Dabiri-Erewa decried Nigeria’s failure to enter into an agreement with other countries on extradition and exchange of prisoners. She said the Federal Government should have done a continuous follow-up, after the delegation secured the stay of execution in Indonesia.

“There is little to be done now until Nigeria signs an official agreement with the country. The committee is working with the House Committee on Treaties to see that the Attorney-General of the Federation is compelled to ensure that the abandoned 25 treaties are domesticated,” she said.

However, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while denying knowledge of the planned execution, said there were no moves to exchange prisoners with the Asian country yet.

The spokesman of the ministry, Mr. Ogbole Ode, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone on Friday, said there must be an agreement between the two countries before prisoners could be exchanged.

“I am just hearing this (the impending execution); I am not aware. The President of Indonesia has just left Nigeria. What, again, I do not know is whether there was a prisoner exchange agreement between Nigeria and Indonesia. You know, you don’t exchange prisoners just like that; there must be an agreement to provide the legal umbrella for such exchange between two nations.

“I am not aware of a prisoner exchange. Our ambassador was around during the state visit by the Indonesian President. I will speak with him if his Nigerian number is still functioning and I’ll find out and get back to you.”

The 21 Nigerians were condemned to death by Indonesian courts in 2008 for various criminal offences, including drug peddling. Same year, four were sentenced to life imprisonment and eight others to various jail terms ranging from 11 to 18 years.

Out of the 21 on death row, Samuel Okoye and Hassan Nwaolisa were executed on June 28, 2008, while Augustine Ogbonna died in custody in September 2008 under mysterious circumstances.