Abike Dabiri-Erewa, head of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, has revealed that 21 Nigerians are currently on death row in Indonesia. She said that during a visit to the prison, she found that 20 of the inmates were from one southeastern state, and one was from Edo State.
According to report from Daily Post on Monday August 4, 2025, she explained that efforts were made to plead with Indonesian officials, but they refused to bend their laws.
She said four of the Nigerians were executed, while one was saved through the help of a lawyer, Barrister Emmanuel. The rest remain in prison, facing the death penalty.
Dabiri-Erewa stressed that even though most of the inmates came from the same region, it is wrong to assume that everyone from that state is involved in crime.
She added that the state governor has been working to tackle the issue and improve the situation.
She said,
“When we went into that prison, I’ve said it before, and I said again, 21 of them, 20 were from one state in the southeast 20, the other one was one Edo state. But at the same time, that doesn’t mean you should generalize and say everybody in that state is a criminal, and the governor of that state has tackled the issue.”
