Five Nigerians rescued from detention at MACA Prison in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, have been received by the Federal Government following months of diplomatic efforts.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, alongside the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Lanre Issa-Onilu, and other government officials, received the returnees at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by the minister’s Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, Magnus Eze, the six young men were Malam Nasiru Umar, Shamsu Abubakar, Sa’adu Bello, Lyman Mohammed and Usama Murtala.
The statement disclosed that one of the six detainees died shortly after their release.
According to the statement, all six travelled by road from Sokoto to Abidjan on a trading trip in August 2025 before they were arrested and detained without charge or trial.
The Federal Government, however, only became aware of their plight in April 2026, after which the minister immediately directed the Nigerian Embassy in Abidjan to intervene.
The statement said sustained engagements by the Nigerian mission and diplomatic interventions by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs eventually secured their release.
However, “one of the detainees, Usama Murtala, who reportedly became ill due to the harsh prison conditions and inadequate medical care, died at a critical care hospital on June 24, 2026, a day after the group regained freedom.
“He was buried the following day in Côte d’Ivoire according to Islamic rites after consultations with his family in Sokoto,” the statement said.
Explaining the circumstances surrounding the case, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the Nigerian authorities were unaware of the men’s detention, delaying diplomatic intervention.
“There was no charge sheet. There was no trial. They were simply detained and taken to prison,” she said.
She attributed the ordeal partly to language barriers, which prevented the detainees from communicating effectively or accessing legal representation in the French-speaking country.
The minister said, “They could not speak English in an environment where French was spoken. They never really stood a chance.”
She described Usama’s death as a painful reflection of the risks faced by many young Nigerians who embark on irregular migration in search of opportunities abroad.
“Many of our prisoners overseas are vulnerable young people who leave home in search of opportunity, caught in a web of judicial or unjust systems they do not fully grasp and are subsumed under its weight.
“Usama’s story remains a painful reminder of how fragile life can be for young people who set out on these journeys to unfamiliar environments with unfamiliar systems without knowing what awaits them.
“We will be taking up the case with the Ivorian authorities for compensation,” Odumegwu-Ojukwu said.
The minister warned Nigerians against undertaking risky journeys in search of opportunities abroad, noting that many citizens imprisoned overseas were intercepted while transiting through foreign countries.
She said the Federal Government’s intervention was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Citizen Diplomacy initiative under the Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises the welfare and protection of Nigerians wherever they may be.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu also appealed to the Sokoto State Government to rehabilitate the returnees by providing them with skill acquisition and capacity-building opportunities to enable them rebuild their lives after the trauma they endured.
She disclosed that the Federal Government had already written to the Sokoto State Government requesting support for the five youths through rehabilitation programmes.
Speaking on behalf of the returnees, Aliyu Malami said he travelled to Côte d’Ivoire for business but ended up spending several months in detention under difficult conditions.
He said language barriers made it impossible for them to explain their situation to the authorities and expressed appreciation to the Nigerian government for securing their freedom and facilitating their return.
The minister later presented the returnees with support packages from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Emergency Management Agency and other government agencies ahead of their reunion with their families in Sokoto.
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