- President Bola Tinubu has sent a powerful high-level delegation to Addis Ababa to secure the immediate release and repatriation of nearly 300 Nigerian nationals currently languishing in an Ethiopian maximum-security prison.
- The delegation, led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), aims to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding allowing the inmates to serve out their remaining sentences back home in Nigerian correctional facilities.
- The sudden state intervention follows years of bureaucratic stalling and multiple custody deaths at the overcrowded Kaliti Prison, where inmates are reportedly facing starvation, physical abuse, and severe medical neglect.
President Bola Tinubu has dispatched a high-level federal delegation to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to secure the immediate repatriation of nearly 300 Nigerian nationals serving various prison terms under deteriorating conditions.
Eko Hot Blog reports that according to senior diplomatic and presidency sources, the delegation, which includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), departed for the East African nation on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
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The team has been strictly mandated by the President to formalize and sign a critical Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons with the Ethiopian government, enabling the immediate relocation of the inmates to Nigerian correctional facilities to complete their remaining sentences.
The urgent presidential directive marks a major turning point in a diplomatic crisis that has dragged on for over three years.
Official Ministry of Foreign Affairs figures indicate that more than 270 Nigerians are currently held at the notorious Kaliti maximum-security prison in Addis Ababa, predominantly for drug-related offenses.
Insiders revealed that the sudden gravity of the rescue mission was driven by alarming intelligence regarding the critical health conditions of the inmates, with one official plainly stating, “They are dying in open-air prisons.” Human rights groups and families of the incarcerated have repeatedly staged protests following a string of custody deaths, including the alleged fatal brutalization of Chizoba Favour Eze by guards in March 2023, and the death of Uchenna Nwanneneme from untreated tuberculosis later that year.
Advocacy groups have continuously maintained that many of those held at Kaliti were ordinary travelers transiting through Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport, one of Africa’s busiest aviation hubs, who became unwitting victims after narcotics were illicitly planted in their luggage.
Although a Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the ministry to intervene as far back as late 2024 because the Ethiopian government admitted it lacked the budget to feed foreign inmates, previous diplomatic efforts stalled in the Ethiopian parliament.
Minister Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who has consistently pressured Ethiopian authorities since her previous tenure as Minister of State, had warned that the Nigerian public would no longer tolerate further custody deaths.
With Ethiopia finally ratifying similar prisoner transfer agreements with nations like China and Brazil earlier this year, the Tinubu administration is leveraging this window to ensure a safe, legal, and rapid evacuation of its citizens.
