• Govt warns citizens against criminal activities
EVEN as the country is still reeling over the execution of two Nigerians in Indonesia last week for drug trafficking, the Federal Government said Thursday that 12 other Nigerians are on death row in that country.
Government therefore, advised Nigerians living abroad to desist from activities that could make them fall victim to the extreme penalties in their host country.
Speaking in Abuja at an interactive session with foreign affairs correspondents, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Danjuma Sheni said that the Federal Government is committed to the protection of lives of all Nigerians living abroad.
“My appeal to Nigerians is that when you go outside this country you must learn to abide by the law and regulations of other countries. The consequences of breaking the law of other countries could be very drastic and tragic. Some of the Nigerians are fully aware of this.
“That is why we went out pleading, but most essentially I think we Nigerians must also look inwards. We must ensure that as nationals, as we move around the world they must take full cognizance of the fact that certain countries particularly Indonesia have death penalties. They should take the issue pertaining to drug trafficking very serious. So, that is they have to understand the countries they are going into.
“The responsibility of every government is to protect its nationals basically home and abroad. That is why in our interaction abroad we have entered into deep different kind of legal framework and legal mutual assistance and exchange of prisoners and so many of this operations to fight and protect our citizens. So, it is in that context that whenever we have what happened in Indonesia, the responsibility of government is to ensure such execution do not face strictly.”
On 12 Nigerians on death row in Indonesia waiting to be executed, he said “We still have twelve Nigerians on the death row in Indonesia so we remained engaged with them.”
Commenting on a 17 year old Nigerian medical student, Joshua Kunle Abdulazeez, who was ill-treated by Egyptian Airline officials last year, Sheni said “That was a very unfortunate situation and I am very happy today that at the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other stakeholders including the legal representative of the family that has been fully resolved. The airline in questions has tendered an apology and I am fully aware that compensation is being processed for that particular family and the boy and incident.”
