A civil society group, Patriotic Citizen Initiatives (PCI), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to come to the aid of Nigerians incarcerated in China prisons.
Speaking at a stakeholder’s forum in Lagos over the weekend, which had in attendance representatives of family members of Nigerians in China prison and recent prison returnees from China, the group highlighted the awful conditions and experiences of Nigerians languishing in prisons in China.
According to the President of the group, Comrade Osita Osemene, there are about 8000 Nigerians allegedly trapped in China prison who committed immigration offences ranging from invalid travelling documentation, over-staying, smuggling among others.
He also added that despite the fact that some of the offences are drugs-related, most of the allegations are neither properly investigated nor proven, adding that a lot of innocent Nigerian citizens have been unfairly roped into crimes they never committed.
“An average of 40 Nigerians are being executed every year. Nigerians are used for slave labour in prison.
“Many inmates have complained about the mysterious death of Nigerians in various prisons in China. There is also the grave allegation of organs harvesting from Nigerians by Chinese officials in the business of organ trading.
“We are also calling on the government to look into allegations of lack of access to medical facilities, the gross inhuman treatment and lack of fair hearing by Chinese government,” he said.
Osemene also added that Nigerians are given life and death sentences in China without proper and fair hearing.
“We hereby urge President Buhari to urgently intervene on this matter by setting up presidential inter-agency assessment delegation to China to properly investigate and ascertain the veracity of the experiences of Nigerians in China prisons and their alleged offences,” he said, adding that the office of the SSA to the president on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora should convene special stakeholders/interagency summit on the plights of Nigerians in China prisons, which also should cover other European and Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia.
“The National Assembly, should, as a matter of public importance and urgency, conduct public hearings on this subject matter,” Osemene added. – Nigerian Tribune.
Hello comrade Osemene. It’s only in this part of the world that we break laws with impunity. China or any other civilized countries will not compromise their laws- no short cut. These Nigerians must have known the implication of breaking the laws. Stop sympathizing with them. They deserve the punishment. They may prefer to be slaves in other countries because of greed. Check them out, they may be school drop outs or illiterates. Our youth should look inwards; they are intelligent, they can make it and and enjoy their holidays in China, Farnadopo, or Tokyo.