The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and
Diaspora , Mrs Abike Dabiri- Erewa has described the death sentence
passed on eight Nigerians in United Arab Emirate (UAE) as
unfortunate.
Eight Nigerians were sentenced to death on Wednesday in Sharjah ,
UAE for a string of robberies at money exchanges and cash
machines (ATMs ) across the emirate in December 2016. Dabiri -
Erewa said this in a statement made available to the Newsmen yesterday in Abuja
The presidential aide who expressed concern over the development ,
however said the incident was not an actual description of
personalities of people of Nigeria .
” It is an unfortunate incident, but it is not an incident that defines
who we are as a people. ” If a few Nigerians have committed a crime
for which they are being punished , thousands of Nigerians are
doing great in that same country and are being appreciated and
celebrated .
” Mr President, who meets Nigerians every time he goes on official
trips outside the country , always appeals to Nigerians to be good
ambassadors wherever they are .
” I must commend millions of our brothers and sisters excelling all
over the world. “ Bad news travels fast and I appeal to the media to
help spread the good news about Nigerians and not concentrate only
on the once in a while negative stories, ” she said .
All the convicted Nigerians were not identified by both the Gulf
News and Khaleej Times, all UAE local newspapers , that reported the
trial .
A total of 20 suspects were initially held for attacking security
guards in four violent attacks at ATMs and money exchanges across
Sharjah in late 2016. Out of the suspects , nine were convicted. Eight
of them were sentenced to death while the ninth person was
sentenced to six months imprisonment.
Some of the accused , confessed to their crimes while others denied
the charges levelled against them . The verdict was handed down by
Judge Majid Al Muhairi of Sharjah Criminal Court on Wednesday .
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