By Daniel Kanu
Nigerian prisoners in the Republic of Togo have cried out over the degrading condition they are subjected to in prison, pleading with President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene speedily before they die.
In a letter sent to Comrade Frank Ezeona, leader of Global Society for Anti-Corruption Nigeria made available to Sunday Sun, the inmates narrated the harsh and gory treatment they are made to experience simply because they are Nigerians.
They revealed that most Nigerians have been in the cell for eight years and more without their cases taken to the court to get justice.
They disclosed that some of the inmates are dying in the prison cells without getting the needed treatment in Togo hospitals due to their nationality as Nigerians.
The inmates also noted that the offence of many Nigerians in custody in the country was that they were legally crossing the Togo border to Ghana and were held back and taken to detention camps without any trial in the courts.
The letter reads in part: “We are crying to our President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene before we die here in Togo. We are innocent and we want our government to come and verify our claims. We believe that our crying to our father’s land and Nigeria government will bring us back to life.
“We want to let you know that almost all parts of Nigerian tribes are here in Togo prison. Some of us don’t even know why the Togo authorities and its government put us into Togo prisons as most of the Nigerians were simply crossing to come back to Nigeria or crossing to go to Ghana and were arrested and put into prison without any good reasons simply because they are Nigerians.
“We thank Global Society for Anti-Corruption Nigeria for their steps so far in responding to our letter addressed to them concerning our deplorable condition in Togo prison.
“They don’t give us food and they even seize the food stuffs our people bring to us from Nigeria. The Togo prison authorities flog and hang Nigerians that have any problem with Togo citizens without asking who was at fault.
“We Nigerians are subjected to mockery; hatred and wickedness in the highest order here in Togo prison by the government of Togo and it authorities,” they claimed.