The Federal Government has described as false media reports that 23 Nigerians were convicted for drug offences in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and have been executed.
Some names have been circulating in the media as convicts awaiting execution in various Saudi prisons for drug offences.
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was in contact with the Nigerian Mission in Saudi Arabia “and it has been confirmed that the story is false and should be disregarded.”
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The ministry’s spokesman, Ferdinand Nwonye, in a statement on Tuesday said the MFA was investigating claims that most of the trials were carried out without adequate legal representation for the accused persons.
It said, “Furthermore, the Nigerian mission was not informed of the arrests and trials. The Federal Government is therefore engaging the Saudi authorities with a view to finding a just solution.”
The conservative kingdom had in April executed a Nigerian, Mrs Kudirat Adesola Afolabi, over drug offences.
Saudi Arabia claimed she was beheaded according to the laws of the land which were created to protect its citizens against the harmful effects of hard drug.