Some Nigerians detained in the Kaliti Prison, Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital city, have been brutalised by the country’s policemen, SaharaReporters has gathered.
According to sources, the policemen on March 30, picked on Nigerian inmates alone and started beating them.
Though the reason for the assault was not stated, one of the personnel was heard saying the inmates were fond of giving the Nigerian embassy bad reports about the prison officials.
SaharaReporters had on March 14 reported that Eze was allegedly brutalised by policemen in Ethiopia, and died from the injuries inflicted on her by the police personnel attached to Kaliti prison, a maximum security prison in Addis Abba.
It had also been reported that her corpse was left inside the cell for over 36 hours by the prison management who allegedly prevented other inmates from informing the Nigerian embassy about the incident.
Meanwhile, in a fresh assault, one of the inmates narrated, “It was very brutal on 30/3/2023 as Ethiopian police picked out some Nigerians inmates and started beating them without any reason.
“Following the report we have been giving to our embassy and many other institutions in Nigeria, it seems that all our efforts have proved abortive.
“They killed our sister, Favor Chizoba Eze, few days ago by beating her to death, now they are trying to kill other persons. Please we are soliciting the Nigerian embassy in Ethiopia in particular and the government of Nigeria in general to come to our rescue before they kill us all.”
The incident comes two weeks after the death of Eze, in the Ethiopian prison.
Chizoba’s death comes nearly four years after another Nigerian Odemu Efe, died of an undisclosed ailment and poor medical attention at the same prison facility.
It would also be recalled that in January, some Nigerian inmates locked up in the maximum security Kaliti Prison had called on the Nigerian government to facilitate their transfer of sentence to Nigerian prisons, alleging grave human rights abuses in the Ethiopian prison.
In a letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian embassy in Ethiopia, they complained of starvation, lack of access to medical care, corporal and capital punishment, and overcrowding.
“The Nigerian inmates in Kaliti maximum prison Ethiopia are soliciting help from the Nigerian government; we ask that the government come to our aid urgently.
“We lack access to water, food and medical care. We are asking the government to intervene so we can serve the rest of our jail terms in Nigeria. Many of us have fallen ill due to malnourishment, the health infrastructure is weak, and inmates are suffering from precarious health issues,” part of the letter read.
