Group advises FG over detained Nigerians

A Non-Governmental Organisation, United Nigerians in the Diaspora, has said the Federal Government and the National Assembly have yet to meet their responsibilities to Nigerians facing prison sentences on trumped-up charges abroad.

UNID raised the concern as more Nigerians are placed on the death row in some South-East Asian countries, particularly Indonesia.

Their worry was heightened by the United Nations’ preparation for the periodic review of the global illicit drug policy in 2016.

The organisation was formed to address youths’ challenges, providing succour to the downtrodden as well as collaborating with governments in finding solutions to global and national malaise.

UNID President, Dr Paschal Okoli, made the assertion in a statement on Monday, in Lagos.

Okoli said that the development was due to the poor diplomatic overtures by the Federal Government and the nonchalant attitude of Nigerian missions in the South-East Asian countries.

According to him, the silence on the issue by the National Assembly led to the recent killing of Nigerians in Indonesia.

He also said that the government’s “quarantine approach” to the plight of Nigerians in some Asian countries has led to the placement of more Nigerians on the death row in Indonesia.

Okoli said that Nigerians are daily being harassed, intimidated and falsely accused of drug trafficking in Indonesia, Malaysia and other South-East Asian countries because they are aware that Nigerian government places no value on her citizens.

“As we speak, a Nigerian recently lost his manhood in Indonesia for having the guts to befriend an Indonesian lady, under the cover of being a drug trafficker.

“Most prospering Nigerians homes in Indonesia and Malaysia are raided daily on false charges by the local police and citizens without the intervention of the embassies.

“The Federal Government must raise its voice in the global campaign against drug trafficking, production, use and against the killing of Nigerians in some Asian countries,’’ Okoli said.

He also urged the Federal Government to demand full investigations into the cases of Nigerians in detention, noting that Indonesia and Malaysia had mounted clandestine global blackmail, portraying Nigerians as criminals and drug traffickers.