by Rachel Ogbu

In a meeting with the Indonesian President, Susilo Yudhoyono recently, President Goodluck Jonathan requested for a stay of execution of Nigerians on death role in Indonesia, reports claim.

On Saturday February 2, President Jonathan made the request while receiving the Indonesian President who is on a two-day state visit to Nigeria at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to a communiqué issued at the end of the talk, the two Presidents expressed concern over the increasing number of Nigerians in detentions or on death row.

# The communiqué reads:

The two leaders noted with concern the increasing number of Nigerians in detention, jails and death rows in Indonesia for drug-related offences and financial crimes. In that regard, the President of Nigeria requested his Indonesian counterpart for stay of execution of those on death row while the two countries explore opportunities for an agreement of exchange of prisoners and Mutual Legal Assistance between the two countries.

The two leaders reiterated that drug abuse and illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and their chemical precursors needed to be combated.

In order to strengthen bilateral cooperation in this area, the Presidents welcomed the signing of the MoU to combat drug abuse and illicit trafficking in narcotics drugs, psychotropic substances, and their chemical precursors.

The two leaders noted that Indonesia and Nigeria were among important troops-contributing countries to UN Peace Keeping Missions.

To further enhance their contributions and capacity building in peace-keeping, the two Presidents agreed to have a closer cooperation between the peace-keeping centres of both countries in order to encourage sharing of experience and best practices, as well as exchange of visit by trainers and experts.

“Both leaders also agreed to promote training cooperation involving military officers of both countries by encouraging participation of Indonesian and Nigerian military officers in training programmes at the staff colleges of both countries.

“The two leaders discussed the conflicts in Guinea-Bissau, Mali, and the Sahel, and the correlation between these and the war on terror. They shared the view that terrorism remains a global security threat. They therefore agreed to foster closer bilateral partnership to address this threat by cooperating closely in exchange of information, training and education as well as sharing of best practices.

“The two leaders instructed the relevant agencies of both countries to asses counter-terrorism needs upon which bilateral collaboration would be appropriately developed.”

According to reports, the two presidents expressed the determination to encourage agriculture cooperation between the two countries especially in the areas of cocoa, palm oil, and rubber plantations as well as the revival of groundnut cultivation in the North.

The Indonesian President afterwards invited President Jonathan to visit to his country too.