INDONESIA FREES NIGERIAN ON DEATH ROW FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

September 17, 2024:

A Nigerian, Emmanuel Ihejirika, previously sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Indonesia, has been released after years in prison.
A statement by Gabriel Odu in the Public Relations Unit of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission on September 13, 2024 indicated that Ihejirika was released due to pro-bono efforts of Nigerian lawyer, Emmanuel Isha Ogebe, based in Washington DC.
The case drew attention several years ago when a Nigerian delegation, including former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ojo Madueke and Abike Dabiri-Erewa, then a member of the House of Representatives, visited Indonesian prisons to seek clemency for Nigerians on death row.
Four Nigerians, along with an Indonesian and a British citizen, were executed.
Ogebe took up Ihejirika’s case, which he believed was a case of mistaken identity, and pursued it through the Indonesian Supreme Court. His legal work culminated in Ihejirika’s release.
“Ogebe succeeded as he took the case up to the Supreme Court, and Ihejirika was finally let off the hook,” the statement noted.
The Chairman NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa reiterated the severe consequences of drug trafficking in Indonesia and urged Nigerians to avoid such crimes.