Nigeria's accord on inmate relocation with Ethiopia mirrors objectives of the Renewed Hope initiative, says Federal Government

The Federal Government has affirmed that the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement with Ethiopia aligns with President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda, specifically the citizen diplomacy framework, to repatriate incarcerated Nigerians.

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This assurance was given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, in a statement released on Friday, which was signed by Magnus Eze, the Special Assistant on Communication and New Media in the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

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Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu described the agreement as a significant diplomatic achievement that prioritizes the welfare of Nigerians abroad, reflecting the government's ongoing efforts to intervene in cases involving Nigerians facing difficulties overseas.

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The minister dismissed a circulating list of Nigerian inmates in Ethiopian prisons as fake, emphasizing that the actual number of inmates is not 136, and some reported crimes attributed to the inmates are unfounded.

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According to Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the government is determined to bring the inmates back to Nigeria to serve their sentences with dignity, away from inhumane conditions, after years of efforts to secure their return amid challenges in obtaining accurate data.

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The inmates are currently being held in Kaliti and Aba Samuel prisons, both maximum-security facilities, highlighting the need for the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement, which allows prisoners to return to their country of origin to serve their sentence.

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The minister explained that this agreement is crucial, as it enables prisoners sentenced in one country to return to their home country to complete their jail term, which is particularly important for the inmates in Ethiopian prisons who have been agitating for their return to Nigeria.

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These inmates have been facing precarious living conditions, health challenges, inadequate medical facilities, poor feeding, denial of visitation rights, inadequate legal services, and language barriers, among other difficulties.

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Tragically, four Nigerian prisoners have died during the period it took for both countries to finalize the agreement, a situation that Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu finds particularly distressing, questioning why these young people should face such precarious situations for making a mistake.

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Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu also addressed concerns that the inmates would be freed upon their return to Nigeria, dismissing such allegations and stressing that crime has no ethnic or regional affiliation.

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According to the minister, the Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and Ethiopia includes a provision that prohibits granting pardon or amnesty to any transferred prisoner without the consent of the sentencing state.

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Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu reiterated that the list of 136 inmates trending online is inaccurate, stating that there are actually 98 inmates in Aba Samuel and Kaliti prisons who are the subject of the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement.

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The minister noted that the inmates are from various regions of Nigeria, including the South-East, South-West, and South-South, emphasizing that crime knows no ethnicity and that all the inmates are Nigerian citizens in a foreign jail.