₦airaland Forum

Dennis Smith Okoro, a Nigerian inmate at the Kaliti prison, a maximum-security prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is dead.

Okoro, who hailed from Abia State, was among about 300 inmates of Nigerian descent at the Ethiopian prison facility.

He died during the week at the facility.

His death comes a few months after SaharaReporters reported on his deteriorated health condition.

Nigerian inmates in the facility told SaharaReporters that the deceased was left untreated despite paying the police to take him to the hospital.

"He was sick with a kidney problem; the sickness started here in Kaliti prison, Ethiopia, and no good treatment was given to him by officials here. We also contacted the Nigerian Embassy here to tell them what was happening, but sadly, they didn't respond on time,” one of the Nigerian inmates said.

"The Ethiopian police even requested money for his treatment, and we gave it to them, but despite this, they didn't take him for treatment.

"In the last 3 years, 4 Nigerians have died here in this Ethiopian prison. Dennis Smith Okoro's body is still here in the Ethiopian prison; we haven't heard anything from the Nigerian Embassy or the government of Nigeria."

In 2023, two Nigerians, Chizoba Eze and Uchenna Nwanneneme, died in the same Kaliti Prison following alleged physical aggression and poor medication.

In 2025, another inmate, Basil Ilobi Lawrence, who hailed from Delta State, died in the facility.

While Nwanneneme and Lawrence died of an undisclosed ailment without treatment, Eze was said to have died in the facility following alleged physical aggression.

Multiple sources had told SaharaReporters that Eze was brutalized by policemen in the facility and died from the injuries inflicted on her.

It was also alleged that her corpse was left inside the cell for over 36 hours by the prison officials who allegedly prevented other inmates from informing the Nigerian embassy about the incident.

"Nigerian woman, Chizoba Favor Eze, was brutalized to death at Kaliti Prison in Ethiopia. She died on March 12, 2023. It's so sad that the policemen killed our sister. They gave her internal injuries on her chest after brutally hitting her on the breasts, which led to her death," a source in the facility had said.

"After a week, she started feeling sick because of the result of the internal injuries she had inside her body. They took her to the hospital for the first time to receive treatment, and the doctor gave her an injection and brought her back to her room.

"The deceased started feeling weak again, and they took her to the hospital on Saturday, March 11, 2023, then they gave her the same injection, which the deceased complained bitterly about, saying the injection was not good for her body. She added that she didn't want to take any injections again, and they gave her the injection forcefully.

"On Sunday morning, she died. She died inside her room, which made the other foreigners, such as Brazilian and Venezuelan women and others, feel bad because the injection the deceased took led to her death.

"The foreigners went through the bag of the deceased and took the Nigerian embassy's telephone number to call the embassy because the deceased person's body was there with them in the room for over 36 hours. So the foreigners decided to call the embassy of Nigeria to tell them what was happening, but the policewomen did not allow them to call the embassy.”

helinues:
Ethiopia, what brought them to the country to start with not to talk of what led them to prison

helinues:
Ethiopia, what brought them to the country to start with not to talk of what led them to prison

Predictor3:
The grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Ethiopia, how? But Nigerians just want to travel, thinking they just have to escape the hardship at home

wediehere1:
you escaped Nigeria to commit crimes abroad

Exousiang01:
These guys keep moving from country to country soiling the good name of the country.
When they get caught they want help from the same government they demonize.

I am not justifying injustice in the Ethiopian correctional facilities but. You wouldn't be in their prison if you were not going about damaging the name of our beloved country.
When you guys sit down to plan crimes, you dont involve the government, when you succeed you come and insult the government, when it doesn't work out for you, you blame the government.

We have very limited resources.
We can't keep going around spending money in foreign countries for the irresponsibilities of some people.

These people are littered in prisons all over the world for various crimes.
They have damaged our passport. Yet they are the louded when the time comes to insult the passport

Islander23:
Nigeria foreign affairs minister is seriously lagging out in terms of international diplomatic issues,I think no matter the crimes committed by these animals...The government should be there to negotiate for their transfer or follow up their cases because some might be innocent ...I don't support crime but our government is not proving to be above board in terms of international engagement

Ndimkpurummiri:
you are speaking from Ibobotamus angle

yorosstores:
What took him to prison in the first place. The report is silent on that

Islander23:
Nigeria foreign affairs minister is seriously lagging out in terms of international diplomatic issues,I think no matter the crimes committed by these animals...The government should be there to negotiate for their transfer or follow up their cases because some might be innocent...I don't support crime but our government is not proving to be above board in terms of international engagement

wediehere1:
either drug trafficking or armed robbery