Amnesty urges Saudi Arabia to free Nigerian man on death row

Amnesty International Nigeria has appealed for the immediate release of a Nigerian citizen, Sulaimon Olufemi, who has been on death row in Saudi Arabia after being accused of involvement in the killing of a police officer.

In a statement shared on its verified X handle, the rights group described Olufemi as “a victim of circumstance” following his travel to the kingdom more than two decades ago.

The organization said, “Suliamon Olufemi, a Nigerian national from Badagry Lagos, was born on 20 April 1978. He travelled to Saudi Arabia on an Umrah visa in September 2002. On arrival at the airport in Jeddah, Suliamon called his friend who he was scheduled to stay with in Jeddah.

” On 28 September 2002, some days after Suliamon arrived in Saudi Arabia, he followed the Nigerians that offered him accommodation to a car wash in the Bab Sharif area of Jeddah, where many African nationals worked as car cleaners. On the day, a group of local men with guns, among them a police officer, raided the location and a dispute broke out between the local men and the foreign nationals which resulted in the police officer getting injured, he later died.

“The following day, 29 September 2002, mass arrests were carried out of foreign nationals by the Saudi authorities, including Suliamon Olufemi. He was put on trial for the incident and the death of the police officer.

“Amnesty International received reports that Suliamon was tortured during interrogation in order to force him to sign statements written in Arabic, a language that he could neither read nor understand. Under duress he was said to have put his fingerprints, which can be taken as a substitute for a signature, to a statement written in Arabic. He later learnt in court that he had “signed” a statement that said that he had hit the police officer over the head with a gun.

“Suliamon Olufemi was sentenced to death in May 2005 following a closed trial which took place in the absence of legal or consular representation or adequate interpretation and translation facilities.

” According to Shari’a law in Saudi Arabia, if a crime is punished under the rule of qisas (retribution), as in Suliamon Olufemi’s case, relatives of the murder victim have the right to decide if the offender should be executed or pardoned, in which case the death penalty is dropped, sometimes in return for diya (compensation or “blood money”) Family of the deceased police officer demanded payment of diya.

“Diya was paid for Suliamon Olufemi over a year ago in July 2024. Others prosecuted together with Suliamon were released after payment of diya. But Suliamon is still in detention.

” Amnesty International urges the government of Saudi Arabia to release Suliamon. The Nigerian authorities must intervene to end the anguish of Suliamon and his family.”