President Bola Tinubu has assured Nigerian nationals in Ethiopian prisons that the country has not deserted them.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, delivered the president’s message to the inmates when she led a delegation to visit them at the Aba Samuel Prison in Ethiopia on Thursday, June 11, and announced the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement signed by the two countries a day earlier.
Addressing the inmates after a separate meeting with the authorities of the Ethiopian Federal Prisons Commission and the Ministry of Justice, Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the bilateral Prisoner Transfer Agreement with the Government of Ethiopia was prompted by the citizen diplomacy approach enshrined in the 4-D (Diplomacy, Democracy, Development and Demography) foreign policy of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu-led administration.
In a statement, Magnus Eze, the Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, Odumegwu-Ojukwu, disclosed that at least four Nigerian inmates had died while the negotiations, judicial vetting, and the conclusion of the agreement lasted. The deal was rooted in the principles of humanity, justice, and cooperation between the two nations, he said.
