Chairman,
House Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa displaying a
picture of some Nigerians in Brazilian prisons, during a press briefing
in Abuja
The
Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa,
has said 456 Nigerians may continue to languish in Brazilian jails, if
the government does not have a bilateral agreement with the country.
In an interview,
Dabiri
-Erewa said about 100 Nigerians were also in detention in Ukraine
for various allegations, adding that the country had called on Nigeria
for their repatriation but this has not taken place.
The ex-broadcaster added
that Brazil had invited Nigeria to sign a repatriation treaty with it
since 2009 but that Nigeria was yet to respond due to its lackadaisical
attitude towards protecting the rights of its citizens.
Dabiri-Erewa, who was in
Brazil recently on a fact-finding mission, stated that a 72-year-old
grandmother, Fausat Aosede, 13 women and 443 other Nigerians languished
in Brazilian jail for drug-related offences.
“The Nigerians may stay
longer in jail because Nigeria does not have a repatriation agreement
with Brazil. The country sent a document to facilitate the agreement in
2009 but it is still awaiting a response from Nigeria. Should Nigeria
have an agreement with Brazil, their release will be sped up.”
The lawmaker however
said Aosede, who was in Brazil for medical treatment and was later held
for drug trafficking, would be repatriated as the Brazilian law
disallowed detention of persons over 70.
On the fate of others, Dabiri-Erewa
said, “We need to have a roundtable discussion with Brazil and sign an
agreement before we can repatriate our people who are either serving
jail terms in detention or on trial for various offences. It all depends
on how seriously Nigeria takes the issue.”
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