Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM, Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has condemned the arrest of 42 Nigerian national in Mozambique and called for their immediate release.
This was contained in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja and signed by the NiDCOM’s Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols, Abdur-Rahman Balogun
According to the statement Dabiri-Erewa expressed concern that the Nigerians were allegedly arrested without any formal charges being filed against them.
“It was disturbing that only Nigerians were reportedly singled out during the operation”, it read.
It added that “if any of the individuals had violated Mozambican laws, the appropriate step would be to arraign them before a court of competent jurisdiction rather than detain them without explanation”.
In this Dabiri-Erewa noted that selective arrest of Nigerian citizens suggests a xenophobic action against Nigerians in that country.
She therefore urged the Mozambican authorities to either immediately release the detained Nigerians or follow due legal process by formally charging them in court.
The “Nigerians were allegedly picked up at a spare parts market, where they were singled out among other traders and individuals present at the location without any clear allegations or explanations for their arrest”, the statement noted.
