The Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has told the Senate Joint Committees on Diaspora and Inter-Governmental Affairs and Foreign Affairs that the employer of Ikem, a Nigerian student beaten to death in the Philippines, has been charged with murder, along with five others.
Dabiri-Erewa also said a viral video by a man posted on social media recently alleging that 250 Nigerians are slated for killing in Ethiopia was totally false.
This was the highlight of the investigative hearing of the Joint Senate Committees presided over by Sen. Victor Umeh.
Dabiri-Erewa informed that in the case of Ikem, who was brutally murdered, the Philippines authorities have declared the employer, who has since been on the run, wanted.
She said the Nigeria Embassy had informed the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines and also reported the case to the Inspector General of the Philippines National Police.
According to her, the Embassy had maintained regular contact with the line police station at the location, with a strong directive to go for the investigation.
She said the investigating police team on the case are done with evidence building and presented the case to the Mandaue city prosecuting Department for action; who has evaluated it and deemed it fit for murder case filing.
“They have filed the case and issued a warrant of arrest to the boy’s employee and five other suspects; they are charged for murder, human trafficking and operation of illegal business in the Philippines,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
She told the Committees that to decongest the prisons, amnesty was granted to them but the majority of them went back and still committed the same crime.
