the
potential leaders of tomorrow, who have embarked on a journey, away from
their Father's land in order to gain global enlightenment and exposure;
and choosing the Asian peninsula as focus base for their educational
pursuits, are now constantly being duped of their tuition fees and
falsely accused of crimes not committed by the institutions they study
in, their apartments being regularly raided even without warrants,
blackmailed and set up for the purpose of extortion, falsified evidence
accepted by judges against them in courts which are presented by the
police and prosecutors, deported by the immigration authorities for the
failure of the institutions of learning and the same immigration
departments who fail to quickly process the renewal of Visa for these
Nigerian students who have handed in their passports for weeks, months
and even years.
The Nigerian High Commission Staffs in
Malaysia and Asia at large are hereby held complicit and accountable for
the grave injustice meted out on the innocent Nigerian students. Facts
available to us, has it that the Nigerian High Commission Staff in
Malaysia do not exhibit professionalism in the application of techniques
available to establish facts on allegations brought against Nigerian
students, except particular orders come from Nigeria in cases involving
children of the HIGH and MIGHTY who have business ties within Malaysia..
The High commission staff tends to handle cases based on religious and
regional sentiments while condemning other Nigerians to their fate even
if truly innocent.
The begging question is; how can we
determine the truth of someone's guilt when no attempt is made to follow
up such cases from the onset? It is well known that when the Embassy is
contacted to come to the aid of arrested Students, the staffs simply
brush such pleas away or sit down in the Comfort of the High Commission
premises and demand for proof that the accused is innocent. For this
lapse in their activities, several innocent Nigerian students have been
arrested, fined, jailed for long periods or completely lost out on their
academic pursuits. Out of anger and frustration, some of such students
get into criminal activities because from their understanding, No one
cares..
There are several cases where police
officers in connivance with school security personnel's, local and
foreign agents and lawyers go after students who they believe have
financial backing at home. They black mail such students and threaten
them of putting them in trouble if they do not pay certain amounts of
money. Some of the students who refuse to be oppressed such threats are
then arrested, taken to court and false evidence presented against them.
In the courts, the prosecutors do not allow the students to speak in
protest or self defense. The proceedings in Malaysia courts against
Nigerian students are carried out in the Malaysia language of which
Nigerians schooling in Malaysia are not mandated by any law to study
Malay and therefore do not understand what the prosecutors are telling
the judge or what the judge is saying to the court.
Due to the absence of a defense
attorney, the colleges staff and Nigerian High Commission staff to
represent the student on the first day of proceedings, the judges deny
such students bail and on the request of the prosecutors who have
connived with the I.O of the case, request the student to be remanded
and the case postponed for up to a month or more. This move is often
used to frustrate students in fear of losing their academic to plead
guilty to crimes not committed and pay bribes or fines to gain their
freedom. A student who still refuses such blackmail may spend up to
three months or more in jail or even deported and forever tagged a
criminal.
Some examples of such cases of innocent
Nigerian students who have been arrested for crimes not committed or
even killed in Malaysia and no response from the Nigerian High
commission are as follows;
Illegal Arrests and detention
1. Nkem Okpa (November 2011): Research
student in Malaysia and 10 other students arrested by Malaysian police
for 11 days. The police said their arrest was based on reports their
Malaysia neighbors made about Africans disturbing which sounds more
racist based as nobody was disturbing at the time. The police questioned
the students why they had fridge and television sets if they were
students. While they were held, the High commission was informed by
concerned friends and fellow students but the High commission did
nothing.
2. Gabriel (2010): Arrested on the
street and thrown into a bus with some people who had been arrested for
drug possession of which he had never met. Gabriel was in Sungai Buloh
Prisons until 2013 when the culprit pleaded guilty. Gabriel's entire
life has been ruined for nothing.- Body number: 311...
3. Oyewole (2013): Student arrested for
not being in possession of his passport which had been submitted to his
school for visa renewal. The Police went ahead to carry away cloths and
electronics in his apartment.- Body Number: 313....
4. Segun (2013): A house mate to
Oyewole. They were arrested together and their possessions stolen by the
police.- Body Number: 313....
5. Adeniji (2013): A student arrested
and deported while his passport had been submitted to school for
renewal.- Body Number: 313....
6. Victor (2013) Student arrested on the
school campus for being in possession of drugs he knew nothing about.
His house mate confirmed had been set up. In court, the police presented
false evidence against Victor. Victor refusing to be blackmailed by the
schools security and the police inspector in charge of the case spent
about 3months in remand until his parents told him to plead guilty and
be done with it. The High commission was informed but nothing was done
about it.- Body Number: 313....
7. Bartholomew (2013): Arrested for a
crime he knew nothing about. Evidence and witnesses proves his innocence
but he is still locked up in Jail and the Nigerian High Commission is
saying nothing.-Body Number : 313....
8. Umar Garkida (2013): Arrested from
his hostel, false evidence of drugs presented in court against him. He
has refused to be intimidated to plead guilty and has been in jail since
November while the High commission and his school are silent.
9. Fahat Sanda (2013): Arrested from his
hostel, false evidence of drugs presented in court against him. He has
refused intimidation, refused to plead guilty to a crime not committed
and so has been in jail since November. The school and High commission
are silent.
10. Umar (2014): Arrested from in front
of his hostel apartment by the police. Asked for his passport which he
had submitted to the school for renewal of Visa. He stated his case and
presented his ID as the Student Rep President alongside his student ID,
but the police insisted on arresting him unless he pays some bribe. Umar
called Mr Banum the head of the school security to come and identify
him as the Student Rep President, but he never came. The police officer
then arrested Umar and took him to the station and threatened to put him
in trouble. Umar then succumbed to the threat and paid Rm300 to regain
his freedom on the spot. On returning to the school premises, Umar
confronted Mr Banum to know why he refused coming to identify him but
there was no response. He then requested that the money he paid be
refunded of which Mr Banum said he will refund him and write a petition
against the officer in question. Till date, nothing has been heard about
the issue.
11. Several Nigerian students in
February 2014 were arrested within their school premises by the police
and immigration personnel's for not being in possession of their
documents which had been submitted to the school and hence immigration
for renewal. The School ignored these students for about 2weeks to
suffer in detention and the High Commission did nothing.
The greatest evil that can be done to
any society is in destroying the innocent youths, the leaders of
tomorrow. Children and youths of Nigeria who are innocent of crimes are
being stained with falsehood and blackmailed for the sake of Racism and
extortion here in Malaysia by schools, locals, foreigners and security
personnel's. They are prosecuted without defense, pressured into
pleading guilty and then later deported as criminals to Nigeria in which
with their 'new found status' cannot make any positive progress by
getting jobs or continuing their education. Hence the future of Nigeria
is sabotaged and at risk.
Deaths
1. Onoche Martins (March 2012): Master
degree student. Killed by Malaysian Police personnel's after he
allegedly outraged the modesty of a 43year old lady by hugging, kissing
and exposing himself by 11am. These accusations do not make sense to any
sane being nothing has been heard from the Nigerian High Commission.
2. Solomon Okolo (March 2013): Student
from delta state. Killed by Malaysian citizens in the presence of
Malaysian police officers after crashing his vehicle. His wife was at
the scene of the incidence and to date, nothing has been heard about
that case or the culprits. The High commission is silent.
3. Tunde Adelabu (March 2014): A Student
Killed by Malaysia police personnel's who ran away after shooting him.
Later on, police personnel's came back and arrested Tunde's friend who
had witnessed the shooting. Today, nobody knows where this boy has been
taken to or if he is still alive. The school he attended are now denying
he was ever their student. The High commission s still silent.
4. In India on the 25th of March 2014,
Two Nigerians where found seriously stabbed Devli Road, New Delhi. One
of them succumbed to injuries and died while the other is at the AIIMS
Trauma Centre.
5. In Malaysia, a Nigerian died in
detention camp sometime in March. The Nigerian High Commission was
invited for the burial or which they attended without contacting the
family of this Nigerian. The family of this Nigerian back home believes
their son is alive somewhere. The High Commission should give reasons
for their action
Let us make it clear that Nigerian
students pay as much as $10,000 and more in Malaysia as tuition fees per
year but are denied working opportunities. Most of the Universities and
colleges do not encourage/sponsor competitive sporting activities that
involve the black students for fear that scouts may pick such students
over the Malaysian students. The Nigerian High Commission has never
organized seminars or symposiums to keep the Nigerian students busy,
orientate the Nigerian students about the environment they live in,
collect information about happenings within their various schooling
environment and checking on the general welfare of the Nigerian students
in Malaysia.
It is also pertinent to state that the
following Institutions are those in which Nigerian students are
defrauded and harassed for either Immigration documents or blackmailed
for drugs possession by the security and police personnel's. non
students are also allowed to live among students and this contributes to
the unwarranted harassment. Therefore, these universities should not be
allowed access to students from Nigeria until they fix their campuses
and update their standards to safe guard the lives and integrity of
their students.
1. MANTISSA COLLEGE
2. WORLD POINT ACADEMY
3. EDU GOLF
4. PERFECT EDUCATION
5. ATLANTIC COLLEGE
6. INSTITUTE OPTOPRENUER
7. LEGENDA GROUP OF COLLEGES
8. TECHNIQUE CAMPUS
9. KOLEJ YAYASAN MELAKA
10. FTMS
11. COLLEGE PAMAISURI
12. LINTON UNIVERSITY
13. LINCOLN UNIVERSITY
We call on President Goodluck Jonathan
to save the future of Our Beloved country by SAVING THE INNOCENT
NIGERIAN STUDENTS wrongly prosecuted and jailed in Malaysia due to the
negligence and complicity of the Nigerian High Commission in Malaysia.
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