·•Bianca hails President Tinubu for diplomatic feat

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu has secured the release of a Nigerian national, Pastor Benjamin Egbaji, incarcerated in the Republic of Benin.

Egbaji, a businessman and cleric from Cross River State was accused of sundry offences and detained in a hospital in Cotonou, the country’s capital under dehumanising conditions for over two years while his health deteriorated. He was later sent to the prison.

The minister disclosed that Egbaji was released on Thursday, January 8, following a Presidential Pardon by His Excellency Patrice Talon.

She noted that the gazetted presidential amnesty dated December 17, 2025, was on the heels of consistent diplomatic pressure from her office including a visit to the detained citizen in a Cotonou hospital August last year.

A viral photograph of the sick looking Nigerian citizen chained to a hospital bed in the Republic of Benin had attracted umbrage from many Nigerians. This prompted immediate diplomatic moves to secure his release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Highly elated Odumegwu-Ojukwu attributed the diplomatic feat to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's commitment to citzen diplomacy as one of the thrusts of his administration’s Foreign Policy. The Diaspora component of the Four-Ds (Democracy, Demography, Diaspora and Development) foreign policy approach of the Renewed Hope Agenda centres on citizen diplomacy.

The minister who spoke with the embattled pastor on telephone shortly after he regained freedom said he was in high spirit and deserved good medical care.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had called on the Beninois authorities to release the Nigerian national so that he could have better medical care and also serve out his sentence in Nigeria.

Recall that the Ministry had requested the transfer of the Nigerian national to receive the deserved medical care and serve out his custodial term in Nigeria after Odumegwu-Ojukwu visited Egbaji in the Cotonou hospital alongside the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari.

She had explained that Nigeria was worried over the pace of the Beninnoise authorities in addressing the situation and acceding to its request, not minding the longstanding cordial relations between the two countries, founded on shared cultural heritage, bonds of trust, mutual respect, and a spirit of brotherhood.

In a recent letter to the Foreign Affairs Minister of Republic of Benin, Odumegwu-Ojukwu had said: “It is against this backdrop of solidarity and mutual goodwill that I seek Your Excellency's kind consideration regarding the plight of a Nigerian national, Pastor Benjamin Egbaji, who has been serving a custodial sentence in Cotonou since October 2023 for a jail term of ten (10) years. As Your Excellency may be aware, Pastor Egbaji has been in Benin Republic for over three decades, contributing meaningfully as an entrepreneur, pastor, and community leader.

“Regrettably, his health has deteriorated severely while in detention. Two independent medical experts appointed by the court recently recommended that he be transferred abroad for urgent medical care, as local interventions have proved ineffective.

“In the spirit of our longstanding friendship and in recognition of the humanitarian imperative, not being unmindful of the grievous nature of the offence he is charged with, we kindly request that Pastor Egbaji be repatriated to Nigeria to serve out the remainder of his sentence in a Nigerian Correctional Centre.”

The minister said this gesture would demonstrate in practical terms the enduring spirit of fraternity and cooperation that bind Nigeria and the Republic of Benin.

In a swift reaction, Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Republic of Benin chapter, Alhaji Mohammad Munir, commended the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for her diplomatic savvy leading to Egbaji’s release.

Munir said that Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu has displayed uncommon commitment to the wellbeing of Nigerians in diaspora.

He praised President Tinubu for the effort in protecting Nigerians outside the shores of the country and urged that more diplomatic approaches be deployed especially in rescuing innocent Nigerians being incarcerated in foreign prisons.

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