The family of Suleimon Olufemi, a Nigerian, who has been on the death row in Saudi Arabia for 18 years, has appealed for clemency and forgiveness for their son from the Saudi Arabian authorities.
The family reiterated this appeal through Bode Olufemi, the younger brother of Suleiman, when they visited the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission office in Lagos.
The delegation, which included the aged parents of Olufemi as well as his siblings and sister-in-law among others, couldn’t control their tears as they pleaded passionately for the life of their son.
Olufemi, who went for lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia in 2002, was accused alongside others of being part of a mob action that killed a Police Officer in the kingdom 18 years ago.
According to Saudi Arabian law, the daughter of the late officer, who was two years old at the time of the incident and is now above 18, will determine if Olufemi should live or die.
Receiving the delegation, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO, NIDCOM, described the incident as unfortunate as out of 11 suspects, only Suleimon was sentenced to death, with others set free.
Dabiri-Erewa informed the worried delegation that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NIDCOM, Nigerian Mission in Saudi Arabia, some members of the Diaspora community in Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International as well as the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs have all intervened in the matter.
Dabiri-Erewa reiterated her advice to Nigerian youths to avoid getting into trouble when they travel out.
She wondered why a young, promising man who went for Umrah will allow himself to be dragged into a mob action that involved many people.
The NIDCOM boss assured the family that the Commission will work with other Government agencies to facilitate the return of Olufemi to his family.
Olufemi, an Electrician, was born in Lagos on April 20, 1978 and embarked on Umrah to Saudi Arabia in 2002.
On arrival at the airport in Jeddah, Olufemi called his friend, who he was scheduled to stay with in Jeddah, but the phone number was not going through so he went to a place called Karantina, where he met some Nigerians when he could not locate his friend.
Some days after Olufemi 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, but unfortunately, there was a mob action, which resulted in the death of a police officer when the authorities came to raid the location.
Olufemi and other 12 Nigerian Nationals were among those arrested.
He was sentenced to death in May 2005 following a close trial which took place in the absence of legal or consular representation or adequate interpretation and translation facilities.
The 12 other men, who were initially sentenced to death and between five and seven years imprisonment, were later commuted to prison terms and lashes.
Both the 80-year-old father of Olufemi, Yavimaku, and mother, Kikelomo, appealed to the Saudi authority to tamper justice with mercy and release their son, while begging the Nigerian Government to help them out as they are eager and prayerful that they will set eyes on their son and hope to reunite with him before they die.
This story does not add up, a person going to Saudi Arabia for Umrah should have made arrangements for hotel accommodation in while on the trip.
And Umrah is performed in Mecca not in Jeddah. The accused should have gone straight to Mecca and performed his Umrah if that’s what took him to Saudi Arabia not Jeddah.
The story is sketchy as to when did he arrived Jeddah and when the mob action took place.
Do you know that one can do Umrah in a day?