Alaramma Ibrahim Ibrahim, a Nigerian Islamic scholar wrongfully jailed in Saudi Arabia, has returned to Nigeria.
Ibrahim, who has been reunited with his family, was also appointed as a Senior Special Assistant to Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State.
The Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, disclosed Ibrahim’s return in a tweet on Tuesday.
She said that the victim was rescued thanks to contributions of Matawalle, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, the Nigerian Mission in Jeddah and NIDCOM.
Ibrahim, an Islamic cleric in Zamfara, had languished in a Saudi jail for four years following a wrongful conviction for drug trafficking.
He was due to be hanged.
Zailani Bappa, the Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the Zamfara Government, disclosed the returnee’s government appointment in a statement on Tuesday.
The victim was in 2016 arrested in his hotel room in Saudi Arabia, where he had gone for the lesser hajj.
He was arrested for drug trafficking after his passport was linked to a bag containing banned substances.
Ibrahim was convicted and sentenced to death by a lower court in the Middle-Eastern nation, and the judgement was affirmed by a superior court.
However, Matawalle upon resumption of office vowed to prove Ibrahim’s innocence.
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The governor was said to have sent a legal team aided by the Federal Ministry of Justice under Malami.
The team also employed Saudi lawyers that helped to successfully overturn the wrongful conviction.
Ibrahim was acquitted of all charges earlier this year but could not return to Nigeria due to COVID-19 restrictions.
He returned on Tuesday.