“I cried and cried” – Zainab Aliyu speaks about DRUG ACCUSATION
Zainab Aliyu, the Nigerian girl recently freed by Saudi Arabia authorities after drug-related accusations, has spoken up about her ordeal.
In her narration with BBC, the young girl said: “I cried, I cried, I cried until tears couldn’t run from my eyes again.”
Watch the video below:
"I cried, I cried, I cried until tears couldn't run from my eyes again."
After being detained in Saudi Arabia on false drug smuggling offences, student Zainab Aliyu shares what it's like to finally be free. pic.twitter.com/EZUZb02NZW
— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) May 15, 2019
How did the Nigerian government secure Zainab Aliyu’s release from Saudi Arabia?
Ambassador Suleiman briefed journalists in Abuja that the released was secured after an intense diplomatic engagement between the federal government and the Saudi Arabian government. He said it took so many fruitful efforts by the federal government to establish she was innocent. He said it took several notes verbal from the government sent to the Saudi Embassy in Abuja and its Consulate in Kano over the matter and all diplomatic channels available were used to ensure the successful release.
“We piled up the pressure of interventions and there have been discussions at various levels between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Saudi authorities,” Suleiman added.
“In addition to that, our ministry, in conjunction with the mission in Saudi has been able to bring to the attention of Saudi, the level of the innocence of these people. “We have engaged in other diplomatic ways, we have written several note verbal, we have also from here sent the same note verbale to the Saudi embassy here and the consulate in Kano. “We have several interventions and various discussion between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General of the Federation on this same issue. “We have passed documents relating to the trial of the suspects that were arrested in Kano, we have also passed same information of the judicial process,” Suleiman said. Obviously elated, Suleiman said the development was cheering to the Nigerian government and Zainab’s family. The ambassador further said that another Nigerian,
Ibrahim Abubakar, was also wrongly detained and will also be soon released. Abubakar, Suleiman added, was not released because the authorities got to his detention centre during close of work. He is reportedly billed to be released on Wednesday, May 1.
“I am happy to announce to you that in the last couple of minutes, Zainab is with our mission in Saudi and we believe that the other gentleman will be released before tomorrow. “Because by the time they were able to get his file, it was closing hour and before they got to his location where he is being kept, it was already late,” Suleiman said.