THE House of Representatives has called for the identification and release of Nigerians imprisoned in other countries across the world.
The House particularly urged the Federal Government to “intervene and secure the release of Nigerians who are being detained illegally in prisons abroad,” while mandating the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Justice and Inter-Parliamentary Relations to ensure compliance with the resolution.
At the plenary on Thursday, the House unanimously adopted a motion moved by Dennis Idahosa, which was titled, ‘Need to ascertain the number of Nigerian citizens being detained in foreign prisons.’
Moving the motion, Idahosa noted that Nigerians were in almost all countries of the world, making exploits in sports, technology, business, education and politics and had been ranked as one of the highest educated immigrants in foreign countries.
Idahosa stressed that the World Bank estimated remittances of around N24.3bn per year and six per cent of the country’s GDP, thereby making Nigeria one of the highest-ranking countries of the world in remittances inflow.
He said, “The House is concerned about reports that many Nigerians are languishing in foreign prisons, some of whom are being illegally detained, while some are exposed to labour exploitation, poor living conditions, discrimination, sex exploitation and other forms of dehumanizing treatments
The House is worried that from a 2019 survey report by the Legal Defence and Assistance Project, about 16,500 Nigerians who are in prisons outside the country were convicted without legal representation and not knowing why they are in jail.
“The House believes that the Federal Government needs to employ diplomatic means to assist Nigerians who were wrongly convicted and are being detained in various prisons abroad.
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