Nigerian in Ethiopian prison died of AIDS – Diaspora Commission

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has confirmed the death of a Nigerian, Odemu Efe, at the Kaliti Prisons in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The commission said in a statement on Tuesday that Mr Efe died of HIV/AIDS according to the death certificate issued by Ethiopian health authorities.

Reports had suggested that Efe, a native of Warri, Delta State, died of an undisclosed ailment.

The commission said the Nigerian Embassy in Ethiopia revealed that “the former inmate had been seriously ill and taken to two different hospitals in Addis Ababa before he passed on”.

It also said that contrary to a statement credited to a woman, Chika Nwachukwu, who accused Nigerian officials of neglecting their countrymen imprisoned in Ethiopia, the Nigerian High Commissioner to the country, Adeoye Bankole, visits inmates regularly.

Bankole was said to have visited the Kaliti Prison in January 2019 with another visit scheduled to hold between August and September.

The chairman of NIDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has condoled with the deceased’s family.

Efe was serving a five-year prison sentence in an Ethiopian Penitentiary having been convicted for drug trafficking.

He had only served over a year before his death on July 13.

The commission said his burial would be undertaken soon through the assistance of Ethiopian authorities and witnessed by the consular representative of the Nigerian Embassy.