Nigerian media advocacy group, Estreet ONTV, has decried the continued ill-treatment of Nigerians who reside in different nations, stressing that the unhappy scenario was turning into alarming.
The group took their cry to the headquarters of the Nigerians within the Diaspora (NiDCOM) in Abuja on the overall maltreatment of Nigerians overseas however extra particularly on the continued detention of a Nigerian cleric, Pastor Benjamin Egbaji, in Benin Republic on but to be substantiated expenses.
Recall that Nigerians had staged a protest to the Benin Republic Embassy in Abuja lately to register their displeasure over the circumstances surrounding the detention of Pastor Egbaji, at the same time as they urged the Nigerian authorities to intervene within the matter and in addition look into a number of circumstances of xenophobic assaults towards Nigerians in a number of nations.
Chief of the group, Samson Eze, who led the group at a media chat with the spokesman of NiDCOM, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, stated that aside from Mr Egbaji, over 5,000 different Nigerians had been languishing in detention in Benin Republic. He famous that that is an affront to the individuals and authorities of Nigeria {that a} neighbouring West African nation might inflict such hurt on Nigerians with the Nigerian authorities doing little or nothing to handle the scenario.
He known as on the federal government to use the precept of reciprocity to indicate its energy and clout in response to the unacceptable behaviour from the authorities in Benin Republic. The group claimed that Pastor Benjamin Egbaji could have been arrange resulting from his recognition within the nation.
“There appears to be this hatred for Nigerians within the Diaspora, the second you say you’re a Nigerian just like the case of South Africa or some other a part of the world, there appears to be this hatred, individuals start to hate you for nothing. We’ve heard a sequence of tales of our individuals being victimized or attacked just because they’re Nigerians,” the group lamented.
Responding, NiDCOm spokesman Balogun assured them that the federal government has intervened within the case of the cleric by offering extra authorized illustration, which he believed will go a protracted method to assist in his case. He famous that the nation will apply diplomatic efforts to make sure justice for the Nigerian detainee. He, nevertheless, famous that everybody ought to look ahead to the end result for the reason that matter was earlier than a courtroom of legislation.
He additionally suggested Nigerians to be good ambassadors of the nation by being law-abiding of their host nations, stressing that intervention of the federal government can be simpler if circumstances towards Nigerians overseas should not based mostly on criminality and infringement of the legal guidelines of their host nations.
