January 06, (THEWILL) – Following intense diplomatic and legal engagements with Saudi Arabia for almost a year, the Federal Government at the weekend secured freedom for 3 women who were detained over alleged complicity in trafficking narcotics into the Middle-East country.
The Nigerians, Hadiza Abba, Fatima Umate Malah and Fatima Gamboi Hadiza Abba were arrested for alleged possession of a substance suspected to be cocaine while on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in March 2024.
THEWILL recalls that the punishment for trafficking and sale of hard drugs in Saudi Arabia almost always results in the death penalty.
The Saudi Arabian judicial authorities are not inclined to make exceptions. In fact, alcohol use is illegal in the land famed for annual and periodic Muslim pilgrimages beside its huge oil wealth. The possession or use of alcohol or drugs can be punished by lengthy imprisonment, or death.
Saudi Arabia carried out at least 338 executions in 2024, sharply up on the 170 recorded in 2023 and the highest number in decades, the AFP tally showed.
Foreigners made up 129 of the 338 persons executed in 2024, another record. Nationals of Nigerians, Yemenis, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians and Ethiopians were affected.
Human rights group, Amnesty International, which has been documenting executions in the kingdom since the 1990s, has said the previous highs were 196 in 2022 and 192 in 1995.
It recently said, “There has been a flurry of executions of convicted drug traffickers since the kingdom ended a moratorium on the use of the death penalty for drug offences two years ago. Only China and Iran executed more people than Saudi Arabia in 2023, according to Amnesty International, which has yet to publish its 2024 figures.”
The Saudi authorities say the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and is only used after all avenues for appeal have been exhausted.
Confirming the persistent diplomatic and legal effort that secured the release of the trio, Spokesperson of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienta, on Sunday,said, “Their successful release was achieved after prolonged diplomatic and legal engagements, which culminated in their discharge and acquittal, as well as subsequent handover to the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Jedda.
He also disclosed that the trio’s arrest attracted much attention in Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
The all-female Nigerian culprits were arrested and prosecuted on March 5, 2024, at Prince Mohammad bin Abdul Azeez International Airport in Madinah, Saudi Arabia and released after spending 10 months in detention.
According to Ebienfa, the arrest of the three women was a result of the earlier arrest of two Nigerian nationals who were found in possession of 80 capsules of Cocaine weighing 900.28 gm and 70 capsules of Cocaine weighing 789.5gm, respectively.
The women were detained by the Saudi authorities on suspicion of being accomplices and abating the trafficking of the banned substance found on the aforementioned arrested Nigerians.
“Upon their release, the women were warmly welcomed by the Consul-General of Nigeria in Jeddah, Ambassador Muazam Nayaya. They are currently undergoing immigration procedures in anticipation of their return to Nigeria, where they will reunite with their families.”
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