Barely few days after a Nigerian woman was executed in Saudi Arabia over drug offences, another Nigerian has been caught in the same country.
He is Saheed Sobade.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, made the disclosure on Friday while speaking on a programme on Arise Television.
Her words: “I have bad news for you. Just yesterday, in the midst of the cacophony of 20 to be killed, eight have been killed, another Nigerian was caught with cocaine in Jeddah.
“He was caught with 1,183 grams of cocaine powder. As he was arrested, the mission was informed and his name is Saheed Ayinde Sobade.”
It would be recalled that the Presidency on Tuesday reacted to the killing of the Nigerian woman by the authorities of Saudi Arabia over drug matters, describing it as unfortunate.
The position of the Presidency was given Dabiri-Erewa.
In a statement issued by Dabiri-Erewa’s Special Adviser, Media, Mr. Abdur-Rahman Balogun, she said the execution of the woman over drug matters in Saudi Arabia was painful despite repeated warnings to Nigerians in that country to be law abiding.
She said it was regrettable that in spite of the wise counsel for Nigerians travelling to Saudi Arabia by relevant government agencies to obey the country’s laws, some Nigerians would still go and run foul of the law.
“This particular execution is very worrisome especially when over eight Nigerians have been killed in the past few years over the same issue in Saudi Arabia,” she said.
According to her, over 20 Nigerians were currently on death row in Saudi Arabia and many were in prisons serving various jail terms.
“We are appealing again to our citizens to avoid crimes and criminality in Saudi Arabia and other countries and be good ambassadors to Nigeria anywhere they go,’’ she said.
Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said four people were executed on Monday for drug trafficking, including one woman, bringing to 53 the number of people put to death this year.
Two Pakistani men, a Yemeni man and a Nigerian woman were executed in the holy city of Makkah, the ministry said in a statement.
In 2018, Saudi Arabia carried out the death sentences of 120 people as carrying illicit drugs and some other related offences attract capital punishment in the country.
