Update: 42 Nigerians Detained in Mozambique — Court Order Defied, 13 Deported While Families and Businesses Left Behind
The plight of 42 Nigerian nationals arbitrarily arrested in Mozambique has taken a deeply disturbing turn, as 13 of them have now been forcibly deported despite a court of competent jurisdiction ordering their unconditional release, leaving behind their wives, children, and businesses in what many are condemning as a gross violation of human rights and a contempt of the rule of law.
The Nigerians were specifically singled out and arrested at a spare parts market in Mozambique, from among traders of other nationalities who were present but left completely untouched, without any allegations or explanation provided for their detention. All 42 were holders of valid and legally obtained permits authorising their presence in the country, meaning their arrest could not be justified on any grounds of illegal residence or immigration violations. They were, by every legal standard, law-abiding residents taken into custody arbitrarily and without just cause.
Some of the detained Nigerians were beaten during the arrest, had their personal belongings confiscated, and several fell ill while in custody and were in need of urgent medical attention. To compound the situation, both the Mozambican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Attorney General reportedly claimed to have no knowledge of the arrests, raising serious questions about either a deliberate cover-up or a dangerous breakdown in institutional accountability within the Mozambican government.
What has made this case even more tragic is the human cost borne by innocent families. The 13 men who were deported had been living as legal, productive residents in Mozambique. Their wives and children remain in the country, now separated from their husbands and fathers without warning, due process, or any legal justification. Their businesses, built through years of honest effort, have been left in disarray with no one to manage them. Not a single charge was ever brought against any of them. Not a single offence was named. Not a single piece of evidence was produced. Yet they were deported.
Most alarmingly, a court of competent jurisdiction had issued an order for their unconditional release. Rather than comply, Mozambican authorities transferred the men to a deportation camp and proceeded to expel 13 of them in a blatant and deliberate act of judicial contempt.
The Continental Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) Africa, Professor Jude Osakwe, expressed grave displeasure at the actions of the Mozambican authorities, stressing that in any democratic society governed by the rule of law, no individual should be arrested and held in custody without being informed of the reason for their detention. He called on the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take decisive action on the matter without further delay. Blueprint Newspapers Limited
The Chairman/CEO of NIDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had earlier condemned the arrests as unacceptable and xenophobic, describing the selective roundup of only Nigerians as deeply distasteful. She urged Mozambican authorities to either release the detainees or formally charge them before a court of law.
Editorial opinion in Nigeria has reinforced that the protection of Nigerians overseas is fundamentally a responsibility of the Nigerian state, and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must take the lead in seeking clear explanations from the Mozambican authorities and ensuring accountability through formal diplomatic channels.
NIDO Africa has vowed not to relent in its advocacy until every one of the affected Nigerians is freed, treated with dignity, and given full access to justice, calling on the international community, human rights organisations, and fellow African nations to stand in solidarity with the Nigerian citizens whose rights continue to be violated.