Jonathan begs Malaysia not to execute Nigerians

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday in Abuja appealed to President Susilo Yudhoyona of Indonesia to grant stay of execution for Nigerians on death row in his country.

There are 43 Nigerians spending terms in Malaysia prisons, with 18 of them on death row. Last January, a 23 year old Nigerian student in Kuala Lumpur, John Amechi Eze, was sentenced to death by hanging after he was found guilty of trafficking in 16,936gm of cannabis two years ago.

Jonathan made the request for stay of execution at a closed door meeting with Yudhoyona, who was on a state visit to Nigeria.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, Jonathan also requested for an agreement on exchange of prisoners and legal assistance between the two countries.

The communiqué was made available to State House correspondents by Dr Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.

“The two leaders noted, with concern, the increasing number of Nigerians in detention, jails and death rows in Indonesia for drug-related offences and financial crimes.

“In that regard, the President of Nigeria appealed to his Indonesian counterpart for a stay of execution of those on death row while the two countries explore opportunities, for an agreement of exchange of prisoners and mutual legal assistance between the two countries.

“Both Presidents reiterated that drug abuse and illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and their chemical precursors are to be strongly and effectively combated.

“In order to strengthen bilateral cooperation in this area, the presidents welcomed signing of an e MoU to combat drug abuse and illicit trafficking in narcotics drugs, psychotropic substances and their chemical precursors,’’ the communiqué said.

According to the communiqué, both leaders agreed to support each other on basis of reciprocity in the re-election of Nigerian Dr Kanayo Nwanze as President of IFAD and the candidature of Indonesian Mari Pangestu for the post of Director-General of World Trade Organisation.

The Indonesian President agreed to support Nigeria’s candidature for election as a non-permanent member of UN Security Council for the period of 2014 to 2015.

Jonathan also agreed to support Indonesia’s candidature for the same election for the period of 2015 to 2016.
In the areas of economic, trade and investment cooperation, both Presidents welcomed the positive trends in their bi-lateral trade and pledged to work together to attain a more balanced and mutually beneficial trade relations.

They also expressed their determination to encourage agricultural cooperation between both countries, especially in the areas of cocoa, palm oil, rubber plantations and revival of groundnut cultivation in Northern Nigeria.

Considering the roles played by both countries in peace and security in their respective regions, both leaders agreed to work together to promote international peace and security, democracy and development.

They also agreed to have closer cooperation between the peace-keeping centres of both countries to encourage the sharing of experience and best practice.

In the areas of social and culture development, Yudhoyono invited more Nigerian students to take part in various scholarship programmes given by his government.

Both Presidents also agreed to cooperate in the field of youth and sports development in general and with concrete exchanges in sports.

It was agreed that while Nigeria will assist Indonesia in raising the standard of football, Indonesia will assist Nigeria in the development of the game of badminton.

-- PM News