Nigerians dig up list of 23 Nigerians awaiting execution in Saudi Arabia for drug-related offences

23 Nigerians are currently on death roll in Saudi Arabia over drug-related offences.

The Nigerians were convicted for flouting the Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Control Law, issued under Royal Decree No. M/39 dated 8/7/1428AH, which is punishable by death.

According to the statement released by the Saudi Arabian Government, the suspects were arrested between 2016 and 2017 at King Abdul-Aziz International Airport, Jeddah, and Prince Muhammad Bin Abdu-Aziz International Airport, Madinah. Below are their names:

Adeniyi Adebayo Zikri
Tunde Ibrahim
Jimoh Idhola Lawal
Lolo Babatunde
Sulaiman Tunde
Idris Adewuumi Adepoju
Abdul Raimi Awela Ajibola
Yusuf Makeen Ajiboye
Adam Idris Abubakar
Saka Zakaria
Biola Lawal
Isa Abubakar Adam
Ibrahim Chiroma
Hafis Amosu
Aliu Muhammad
Funmilayo Omoyemi Bishi
Mistura Yekini
Amina Ajoke Alobi
Kuburat Ibrahim
Alaja Olufunke Alalaoe Abdulqadir
Fawsat Balagun Alabi
Aisha Muhammad Amira
Adebayo Zakariya.

The list was first published in April after the execution of Nigerian widow, Kudirat Afolabi, who had brought into Saudi Arabia, a prohibited drug.

The list, comprising mainly Yoruba people, was exhumed on Sunday, August 25, by some Twitter users to show that crime is not limited to a particular ethnic group in Nigeria.

The hashtag #23Nigerians was the number one trending topic on Nigerian Twitter on Sunday, which many used to counter the claim that only Igbos are corrupt after the FBI released on Thursday, August 22, the list of 77 Nigerians indicted for fraud.

Overall, most Twitter users bemoaned how Nigerians, from the Yoruba, Igbo and other ethnic groups in Nigeria, are destroying the national reputation, internationally.