Abdur-Rahman Balogun Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission. Has stated that The Nigerian government has expressed its willingness to investigate the situation surrounding the death of a Nigerian woman, Chizoba Favour Eze who was allegedly brutalised to death by policemen in Ethiopia.
According to multiple sources, the young woman died from injuries inflicted on her by the police personnel attached to Kaliti prison, a maximum security prison in Addis Abba.
Eze, an inmate in the facility, died on Sunday. It was gathered that her corpse was left inside the cell for over 36 hours by the prison management who prevented other inmates from informing the Nigerian embassy about the incident.
Reacting to the death of Chizobia Eze, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/ CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), stated that the Commission was in contact with the Nigerian Mission in Ethiopia and that the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident will be thoroughly investigated.
She further expressed concerns about the reported conditions of some Nigerians serving various prison terms in Ethiopia,
She claimed that the majority of them were involved in drug trafficking.
She also stated that “the Nigerian Mission in Ethiopia has proposed an MOU from the Nigerian Correctional Service with the Ethiopian authorities on transfer of sentenced persons to Nigeria to complete their respective jail terms in Nigeria, and they are awaiting a response from Ethiopia, adding that even though Ethiopia granted amnesty to Nigerian Prisoners in 2019, a number of them still found their way back to the country and allegedly committed the same drug-related crime.”
The NIDCOM boss expressed her heartfelt condolences to the family of Chizoba, who was said to have died on Sunday, March 12, 2023, in Kaliti Prison in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, as a result of alleged physical aggression.