Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) chairman, has come under heavy criticism from Nigerians on X, the microblogging platform, for making what they described as a “misleading” post about the release of Emmanuel Ihejirika, a Nigerian who had been on death row in Indonesia for reported drug trafficking.
Community Notes, an open-source fact checking feature on X, has also flagged Dabiri-Erewa’s post.
Dabiri-Erewa had on Friday taken to her official X handle, @abikedabiri, to make the following post:
“A Nigerian, Emma Ihejirika, on death row for drugs (sic) in Indonesia has been FREED. A big thanks to Barrister Emmnauel Isha Ogebe, a Nigerian lawyer based in Washington DC, USA, who, after our visit to Indonesian prison, took up the case pro bono and won at the Supreme Court.”
A Nigerian , Emma Ihejirika,on death row for drugs in Indonesia has been FREED. A big thanks to Barrister Emmnauel Isha Ogebe, a Nigerian lawyer based in Washington DC,Usa,who , after our visit to Indonesian prison, took up the case pro bono and won at the Supreme Court pic.twitter.com/tCuB9ppOrS— abikedabiri (@abikedabiri) September 13, 2024
Dabiri-Erewa’s Post
While reacting to Dabiri-Erewa’s post, however, some Nigerian X users commented under the post and criticised her for her grandstanding.
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Abike and clout chasing (5 and 6). Emmanuel Ihejirika was freed 9 months ago December 2023 https://t.co/ykO2dBvr1N— Omotayo Williams (@KadunaResident) September 13, 2024
“Abike and clout chasing (5 and 6). Emmanuel Ihejirika was freed nine months ago December 2023,” wrote an X user with the handle @KadunaResident.
What’s irks me the most is that she didn’t intervene on her own, the lawyer approached her with the case told her as per the “authority” about the case, the lawyer did all the work but here she is gloating.— Ada Odogwu (@Ada_Odogwu) September 14, 2024
Another X user with the name Ada_Odogwu also wrote:
“What irks me the most is that she didn’t intervene on her own, the lawyer approached her with the case told her as per the “authority” about the case, the lawyer did all the work but here she is gloating.”
Madam, what are your aims and objectives for bringing up this December 2023 story? Is it to whitewash yourself or to gaslight Igbo people?— Obinna (@obaino_) September 14, 2024
A third user with the handle @obaino_ wrote under Dabiri-Erewa’s post saying, “Madam, what are your aims and objectives for bringing up this December 2023 story? Is it to whitewash yourself or to gaslight Igbo people?”
This was a case of mistaken identity which you’ve omitted for obvious reasons Nasty vile bigot. Evil propagandist. Ugly inside & out.Power is transient madam. Never forget that.— Olufunmilola (@rusticfunmi) September 13, 2024
Another user with the handle @rusticfunmi also made the following comment under Dabiri-Erewa’s post:
“This was a case of mistaken identity which you’ve omitted for obvious reasons. Nasty vile bigot. Evil propagandist. Ugly inside and out. Power is transient madam. Never forget that.”
Community note is needed here. Why is this woman moving like this nah? What happened 9 months ago and you refused reporting it the way it’s. What is your gain in chasing clout at this your age?— Mbam Ekeledi Enoch (@enoch_mbam) September 14, 2024
A fifth user with the handle @enoch made the post:
“Community Note is needed here. Why is this woman moving like this nah? What happened 9 months ago and you refused reporting it the way it’s. What is your gain in chasing clout at this your age?”
Ihejirika was sentenced to death more than 14 years ago by the Indonesian government for drug trafficking.
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The late Ojo Madueke, who was then the country’s foreign affairs minister, had led a Nigerian delegation to the Southeast Asian country, to seek clemency for Nigerians who were on death row.
Dabiri-Erewa, then a member of the House of Representatives, was also a part of the delegation. Despite their visit, Indonesia would subsequently execute four Nigerians, one Indonesian and a British citizen for drug-related offences.
Emmanuel Isha Ogebe, a US-based Nigerian lawyer, later took up Ihejirika’s case after first informing Dabiri-Erewa of his planned legal intervention.
Ogebe handled the case pro bono and, in December 2023, Ihejirika was freed by an Indonesian Supreme Court after it was proven that the matter was a case of mistaken identity.
Several hours after corrections and criticism, FIJ noted at press time that Dabiri-Erewa left the post on her X page.
The post Community Notes, Nigerians Knock Dabiri-Erewa for ‘Misleading’ X Post appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.