The Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said that many Nigerians are in prison for drug-related crimes in Indonesia.
She disclosed this on Friday in an interview with Channels Television, while addressing the recent attack by Nigerians on the Nigerian embassy in Indonesia.
While stating that she had no prior knowledge of any problems that may have existed with Nigerians in Indonesia, she said she was only aware of the drug-related issues in the country.
“Maybe they’ve had issues with the mission and were talking to the minister, I don’t know, but all I know is, in Indonesia, we have quite a number of people in prison for drugs,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
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“In Indonesia, the penalty for drugs is death. So that’s the case we are dealing with…appealing to them not to kill them but they said that is their law but (asides that) there hasn’t been any particular contact with the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission about problems in Indonesia”.
Speaking about other issues in relation to the COVID-19, the NIDCOM boss noted that the government is in touch with Nigerians in diaspora in various parts of the world even as efforts are on the evacuate them.
According to her, 18 more Nigerians are expected to return from France over the weekend.
Unfortunately, she also noted that 40 Nigerians living in the diaspora have died as a result of complications from the virus.
Meanwhile, Dabiri-Erewa also noted that “Nigerians in the diaspora are coming together to raise funds to help frontline workers in Nigeria and very soon, this initiative by the Nigerians in the diaspora will be presented to the PTF”.
