In what appears to be a miracle, the government of Indonesia has freed a Nigerian, Emmanuel Ihejirika, on death row in that country.
Ihejirika, who was previously sentenced to death for drug trafficking has been in prison for several years.
His release comes years after Indonesia executed four Nigerians, along with an Indonesian and a British citizen.
According to a statement released by Gabriel Odu in the Public Relations Unit of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM, Ihejirika regained his freedom following the efforts of a Nigerian lawyer, Emmanuel Isha Ogebe, based in Washington DC.
His case generated attention some years ago after a Nigerian delegation, which included former Foreign Affairs minister, Ojo Madueke and Abike Dabiri-Erewa, then a member of the House of Representatives intervened by visiting Indonesian prisons to seek clemency for Nigerians on death row.
The statement said Ogebe, believed that Ihejirika’s case was one of mistaken identity, took it up, and pursued it through the Indonesian Supreme Court.
As a result of his efforts, Ihejirika was set free.
“Ogebe succeeded as he took the case up to the Supreme Court, and Ihejirika was finally let off the hook,” the statement noted.
