The chairman of the Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has decried the rising spate of Nigerians arrested for drug trafficking abroad.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa, in an interview on Arise TV on Sunday, said that seeing Nigerians arrested and punished for drug trafficking in South Africa is embarrassing. She also mentioned that 20 of the 21 citizens on death row in Indonesia were from a state in South-East Nigeria.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa disclosed this while speaking about the interventions of her agency in recent protests against Igbos in Ghana.

When asked about the actions taken by Nigerian authorities in response to the “ethnically charged” protest against Igbos in Ghana, Mrs Dabiri-Erewa responded, “The tribe you mention will ask if it’s because of us. No. Like I said, crime has no federal character.”

Citing her experience in Indonesia as an example, Mrs Dabiri-Erewa said, “We had 21 Nigerians on death row. We went to the Indonesian prison and begged them; they said, ‘No, our law is law.’ Four were executed.”

She added, “You know what? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Out of 21 of them, 20 were from one state in the South-East. The other one is from Edo State. But that does not mean you should generalise that everyone from that state is a criminal.”

Narrating another experience, Mrs Dabiri-Erewa said, “Again in South Africa, I was a guest of the authorities. We stayed in a particular place. We were there for four hours, and they said to me, ‘You are going to see what will happen,’ and I saw what happened. I was embarrassed.

“Those people have been arrested and penalised. They were into drugs. I was embarrassed to see my brothers. I can’t even describe the situation.”

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa urged host countries to arrest and prosecute Nigerians who violate the law, but avoid generalisation.

The NIDCOM chairman also said only the bad stories of Nigerians in the diaspora trend, though thousands of Nigerians are developing their host countries.