About 500 of the 5,000 Nigerians living
in Brazil are languishing in different prisons,
according to Nigeria’s ambassador to Brazil, Vincent Okoedion.
Okoedion said
that this category of Nigerians constituted a major problem for the mission
because many of them were incarcerated due for drug-related offences.
The ambassador,
who spoke with our correspondent in Brazil recently, categorised the over 5, 000
Nigerians living in Brazil into three groups. He described the
first group as professionals like lawyers, doctors, architects, and others who
are legally living in the country and doing genuine businesses, while the
second and third groups are the ones who were given amnesty by theBrazilian government and those who came into Brazil but are yet to regularise their
documents.
“Many of
the last two categories are not educated. So these are the groups we really
have problems with; they are also the groups who are subject to police
harassment. One: because they don’t have any legal status; and two: they carry
out illegal businesses and are subject to arrests by the host government.
“In fact, it is
from these groups that we have many Nigerians who are in prisons in this
country. The numbers of Nigerians who are in prisons in this country are about
500, including men and women. It is these groups that are actually the main
concern of the mission because we know that prison is not the place where our
people should be in Brazil; and Nigerians are
the majority of Africans in prison in this country (Brazil),” he said.
On whether Brazil is a route for drug traffickers, the
ambassador said it is possible because Brazil is a gateway to South America, as well as an
economic andaviation hub in South America.
“Brazil is the main market in this region,
that is the hub of commercial flights in this region, and it is through Brazil that other countries in the region are
linked. It is these that could make Brazil a route to other destinations in Africa and
so on. I will also agree with you that Nigerians have been caught in this
illegal trade. In fact, many of them are in prison for this reason.”
Source: Leadership
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