The Federal Government has announced that its Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement with Ethiopia, designed to repatriate incarcerated Nigerians, aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s citizen diplomacy framework under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday and signed by the Special Assistant on Communication and New Media in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Magnus Eze.
She described the agreement as a major diplomatic milestone aimed at prioritising the welfare of Nigerians in the diaspora, particularly those facing legal and humanitarian challenges abroad.
According to the minister, the initiative reflects ongoing government efforts to intervene in cases involving Nigerians detained in foreign countries and to ensure they serve their sentences under more humane conditions.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu dismissed reports circulating on social media claiming that there are 136 Nigerian inmates in Ethiopian prisons, describing the figure as false and misleading.
She clarified that the verified number of Nigerian prisoners covered under the agreement is 98, and not the widely circulated figure.
The minister further stated that many of the allegations attached to the inmates in online reports were unfounded and not supported by official records.
She explained that Nigeria has been working for years to finalise arrangements for the transfer, although challenges in obtaining accurate data had slowed the process.
According to her, the affected Nigerians are being held in Kaliti and Aba Samuel prisons in Ethiopia, both of which are maximum-security facilities.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the agreement became necessary due to concerns over poor living conditions, including inadequate medical care, poor feeding, limited legal assistance, language barriers, and restricted visitation rights.
She noted that four Nigerian inmates had died during the prolonged period required to finalise the agreement between both countries.
The minister stressed that the government’s intention is to allow the inmates to return to Nigeria to complete their sentences under proper and humane conditions, not to grant them pardon or amnesty.
She also rejected claims that the prisoners belong to a specific region of Nigeria, insisting that crime is not tied to ethnicity or geography.
“A lot of them are from the South-East. There are also those from the South-West and the South-South. Crime has no ethnicity,” she said.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu further clarified that under the Memorandum of Understanding, Nigeria cannot grant pardon or amnesty to any transferred inmate without the consent of the sentencing country.
She described the circulating list of inmates as fabricated and reaffirmed that the official figure remains 98 Nigerian prisoners in Ethiopian correctional facilities.
The minister emphasized that the transfer agreement reflects Nigeria’s commitment to protecting its citizens abroad while ensuring justice is served in accordance with international legal frameworks.
