The Federal Government has summoned the Ivorian Ambassador to Nigeria over the death of a Nigerian citizen, Usama Murtala, after long detention in Côte d’Ivoire.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, met Ambassador Kalilou Traore on Friday.
She demanded an explanation for the circumstances of Usama’s death and called for compensation for his family.
Usama and five other Nigerians — Aliyu Malami, Nasiru Umar, Shamsu Abubakar, Sa’adu Bello and Liman Mohammed — travelled from Sokoto to Abidjan by road in August last year. They were arrested and held in MACA Prison, Abidjan, without charge or trial.
The five others were recently released following intense pressure from the Nigerian Mission and diplomatic efforts by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister’s Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, Dr. Magnus Eze, said in a statement on Friday.
Receiving the five survivors on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the minister had indicated that Government “will be taking up the case with the Ivorian authorities for compensation.”
She demanded explanation from the Ivorian envoy why the Nigerian authorities were not informed of their detention, thereby delaying diplomatic intervention.
She described the young men as people on a mere trading trip who also had the impediment of communicating effectively due to language barriers.
She lamented that they did not also have access to legal representation in the French-speaking country.
“These young men were simply detained and taken to prison. For these months, they had poor nutrition as they were fed once a day. Two of them were critically ill and one eventually died.
“Nobody could give reasons why they were arrested and detained for so long without trial or charge,” the minister added.
She told the Ambassador that the seized phones, goods, money and other property of the traders were not handed back to them even after their release.
She further informed the envoy that the returnees had gone back to their state of origin, Sokoto.
The minister stated: “It’s important that we communicate this to you. They have gone back to Sokoto, their state of origin, but the sad memory of the death of their colleague will linger.
“We want you to communicate this to the authorities in Abidjan. This should be properly investigated; it should be probed. And anytime there are issues involving our nationals, the Embassy in Abidjan should be informed. We are aware of what language barriers could cause.
“So, we seek compensation for the dead young man’s family and a commitment that Cote d’ Ivoire will going forward treat our nationals with dignity.”
In his response, Ambassador Traore expressed condolences to the family of the deceased Nigerian national and the country as a whole.