Indonesia Set Execute Four More Nigerians Over Drug Peddling Offences

By Chris Nomjov

Indonesian authorities are billed to execute four Nigerians along with 6 other nationals for drug related offenses, tomorrow April 25th.

According to an Indonesian foreign Affairs official, the convicted foreigners will be taken to Nusakambangan, the prison island off Java where they are to be executed.

Those to be executed also include 2 Australians, one Philippine, one Brazilian and one Indonesian. Australian and Nigerian government have been clamoring for clemency for the drug offenders but their plea appears to have fallen on deaf ears as the Indonesian government has finalized plans to execute the drug traffickers.

It is a law in Indonesia that anyone caught with banned drugs will be executed, foreigners and nationals.

A government official also said on condition of anonymity that authorities have ordered preparations for the execution of 10 death-row inmates, including two Australians that have been the subject of a high-profile campaign for clemency.

Tony Spontana, spokesman for the Attorney General’s office, confirmed that a letter, issued on Thursday by a deputy attorney general, told prosecutors to “prepare for and carry out the executions.

“It’s not a letter of notification to the convicts”, he said. He said convicts are typically notified of their executions three days in advance.

Spontana said the 10 inmates would all be executed at the same time. He said the other drug inmates facing execution are four from Nigeria, and one each from Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil.

He said one convict, Martin Aderson, first identified by officials as Ghanaian, was actually from Nigeria. He also said the Attorney General’s office was awaiting a verdict, due Friday, on a case review request filed by the Indonesian convict, Zainal Abidin.

The Australian government has repeatedly asked for clemency on behalf of its nationals Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

Peter Morrisey, a lawyer for the Australian pair, said he was concerned by the letters, as he understood the legal process was not yet over.

“That looks as if the attorney general’s office is determined to press ahead and hustle through.

“That’s the zone we’re in now. We haven’t got the 72-hour knock but that could be imminent’’, he added.

Julian McMahon, another lawyer for the men, said the families of Sukumaran and Chan were travelling to Indonesia, and some members were already there.

Meanwhile, the European Union has criticised Indonesia’s plans to execute the convicts, saying the death penalty was not a solution to the country’s growing drug problem.

A French citizen, Serge Atlaoui, was among the inmates facing the firing squad.

Federica Mogherini, EU Foreign Policy Chief, said the rejections in Indonesia of retrials, including in the case of a French citizen, bring closer the regrettable prospect of further executions.

The governments of the Philippines, France and Brazil have also appealed to Indonesian President Joko Widodo, to show mercy and spare their respective citizens.

So far, there has been no word from the Foreign Affairs Ministry in response to this report. It will be recalled that, in January this year, Indonesia brushed aside last-minute appeals by foreign leaders and executed by firing squad six people convicted of drug trafficking, including five foreigners, among whom were two Nigerians, sending a message that the new government will not compromise its tough approach to narcotics.However, nothing fruitful came out of the appeal by the Nigerian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali; who summoned the Indonesian Ambassador to protest the execution of two Nigerians, Solomon Okafor, (Alias Namaona Denils) and Daniels Enemuo, (Alias Diarrassoube Mamadou) by the Indonesian government.