Libya Deports 734 Nigerians
By Paul Ohia and Chinedu Eze, 10.02.2009


[b]
As Nigerians on death row in Libya continue to mull over their fate, the country has deported yet another batch of 734 people.
THISDAY learnt that some of those returned home were sentenced to life imprisonment but later pardoned by the President Muammar Ghaddafi Government.
The North African nation also claims the latest deportees were sent packing for other offences ranging from illegal immigration to criminal activities.
The 734 Nigerians were deported in four days through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Of this number, the last group arrived the country Tuesday, September 29, on the same aircraft. There were 134 people comprising 88 females and 46 males.
In addition to those sent home earlier, there are now 1,214 that have been forcefully removed from the country within two months.
In August, Libya deported about 330 Nigerians and another 150 later in the month of September.
The 150, all male were rteturned in a Libyan aircraft with registration number, SUBME.
The sorrowful countenance of the deportees mirrored vividly the horror of their experiences and the tragic pain of being forcefully returned home after their sojourn overseas.
They were handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) at disembarkation at the airport.
THISDAY learnt from NIS that the deportees, many of whom have been handed over to their families, were removed from Libya because they did not have the required papers for legal stay in the country.
Many of them allegedly arrived the country claiming refugee status in order to secure them legal status, after which they would plan to cross over to Europe through Spain.
The NIS has condemned the action of these Nigerians, saying that they expose themselves to untimely death in the process of running away from their fatherland.
Only recently, a ship full of illegal immigrants capsized off the coast of Spain. Many of the immigrants were Africans, Nigerians included.
Libyan government has indicated that it will remove all illegal immigrants from the country.
Meanwhile, Miss Glory Paul-Amanze who was interviewed on phone by THISDAY early this week from Jabida Prison in Tripoli said Nigerian embassy officials besieged the prisons to secure the release of those  sentenced to life imprisonment and later pardoned.
She was now speaking from Ago Palace way in Lagos.
“First of all we were told that our sentences have been reduced to 21 years imprisonment but later they came to tell us that we have been pardoned,” she told THISDAY yesterday.
Paul-Amanze has been in prison since 2003 and her brother who was sentenced with her, Mr. Nwaokomah Nduaguibe died in the prison.
“We went to look for money when Nigeria was getting difficult and we found ourselves in this ugly situation. Please tell everybody to forgive. We do not want to die or our bodies cremated. we wish to see our families again. We beg our dear President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to come and get us out. We promise to be good citizens in Nigeria. We also urge our kind mother, Dora Akunyili to beg the president on our behalf” Miss Paul-Amanze had told THISDAY early this week.
According to her, another death row prisoner, Miss Juliet Okoro who spoke to THISDAY also has been pardoned and awaiting deportation.
Okoro had told THISDAY on phone from the same prison that the accusation of murder for which she has been placed on death row since 2000 was forged and her indictment followed no legal representation.
The effort to get all Nigerians languishing in Libyan prisons started after the House of Representatives Committee on the Diaspora, Hon Abike Dabiri drew the attention of Nigerians to the issue and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) mandated its lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana to file an application at African Commission on Human Rights ACHR in Banjul, Gambia.
ACHR subsequently urged the Chairman of the African Union (AU), President Muammar Ghaddafi to suspend the execution of  Nigerians on death row in his country.
President Ghaddafi responded to the African Commission’s order for a suspension this week.
The halt in their execution was made pending the final determination of the suit filed by SERAP, before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in Banjul, The Gambia
The African Commission is the body charged with overseeing compliance with legal obligations under the African Charter on Human and People's Rights.[/b]



http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=155983

prison,prison,prison everywhere my ibo brothers and sisters.no single haussa in prison or on death row anywhere, my brothers and sisters money sweet but e dey bitter pass.

prison,prison,prison everywhere my ibo brothers and sisters.no single haussa in prison or on death row anywhere, my brothers and sisters money sweet but e dey bitter pass.

It's high time we igbos cut down on our desperation,it's shame to see my brothers and sisters do these things,it's high time we igbos redefine our priorities!

Abeg  make una no bring your tribalistic sentiments into tis ooo. If any of y'all wan make point,make u do am without the usual rubbish.

Lmao, this little tribalist motherfucker is back.