Protesters besiege NASS over 6,000 Nigerians in China’s prisons

A group of protesters under the aegis of Black African Reorientation and Development Organisation (BARADO) on Wednesday staged protest at the National Assembly, over alleged inhuman treatment meted against over 6,000 Nigerians languishing in China’s prisons.

The group in a petition titled ‘A passionate appeal to save the souls of Nigerians in China prisons,’ sent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President, alleged that 90 percent of the affected Nigerians have been incarcerated for over 10 years.

The Group which condemned the gruesome and disheartening condition which Nigerians in China prisons go through, stressed the need for urgent intervention of Nigerian Parliament by domesticating bilateral agreement on prisoner exchange with China and other countries.

They alleged that all the affected Nigerians were deprived of proper representation in the law court while the Nigerian embassy remain complacent to the plight of millions of Nigerians living in China.

Some of the placards displayed read: ‘Chinese government subjects Nigerian citizens to hard labour for more than 12 hours a day for producing made-in-China goods,’ ‘No access to lawyers for proper representation in Court,’ ‘Bring Nigerian citizens back from China prisons,’ ‘Nigerians are forced to donate blood every 3 months in China prisons especially in Guangdong province,’ ‘Over 800 future mothers in China prisons, Nigerian women sexually harassed by prison warders,’ among others.

Nkem Anyata-Lafia, member of the House of Representatives who championed the campaign, underscored the need for the review of the Nigeria’s foreign and the immigration policies.

He also called for urgent need to salvage thousands of innocent Nigerians living abroad who are docked based on frivolous allegations for several years without trials.

The petition read in part:

“Sir, we hold with contempt and indignation the inhuman and preposterous manner our brothers and sisters in China prisons are being treated by the Chinese government. We would like to bring to your knowledge that over six thousand Nigerians are currently in various China prisons. The facts between our knowledge show that,of this number, over 55% are unlawfully and illegally being incarcerated. Again, Your Excellency, it may interest you to note that over 90% of this number have been in goal for over 10 years, subjected daily to unnatural hard labour and torture and being made to work at N7 per a month for an economy that desperately seeks to be No.1 in the world.

“In spite of all the above, Your Excellency, the greatest pity is that two- thirds of these prisoners have not the faintest idea when they would finish their terms and, sometimes, have no knowledge of the crimes they have committed, since one could be detained for about 7-10 years without charges! This is the regular ploy of the Chinese authorities, which ensures that their prisons are continually stacked full to provide the needed cheap labour that fuels their economy and makes them the so-called global hub for inexpensive goods.

“It is therefore, disheartening and seriously beats our imagination that despite global laws and Conventions that recognise the inherent dignity and inalienable rights of all human persons as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world and in spite of the general and universal rules of law, which provide that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and should, therefore, act towards one another in the spirit of brotherhood, the Government of China is still barbarously busy arbitrarily arresting and detaining Nigerians, subjecting them to torture and cruel inhuman and degrading treatment s while the whole world keeps watching because aids worth billions of Dollars are being expected from Beijing.

“From records at our disposal, many Nigerians in China prisons are being held based on false allegations. In some cases, death sentences are passed carelessly and secret executions carried out in questionable conditions. There have even been alleged cases of organ harvesting to treat their rich industrialists with failing health. As if all of these were not enough cruelty on these hapless prisoners, they are still daily subjected to slavery and hard labour with nothing other than white rice which is fed to them once in a while. This is even to say nothing about those who are made to die slowly by being forced to handle handful industrial chemicals without any form of protection around their bodies.

“Only last March,ma young Nigerian from Isiala Mbano in Imo State died mysteriously in one of the Chinese prisons. On August 14, 2015, a Nigerian was also executed despite his not-guilty plea and absence of any form of investigation. We simply ask:Is this the true meaning of promotion of friendly ties and relations between nations as China spends billions of dollars pontificating upon or as provided by universal declaration,” the petition read.