Former Edo Commissioner Accused Of Lying Over Jail Time In Italy

Former commissioner for culture in Edo State, Mr. Osaze Osemwingie-Ero was on Saturday put to task over his recent jail time in Italy after the National Union of Nigerian Associations in Italy (NUNAI) described as false his allegations raised against the Italian government.

 GreenWhiteGreen GWG reports that Osemwingie-Ero had at various for alleged that he and other Nigerians living in Italy were racially targeted by a biased Italian system.

The Nigerian union, however, poohpoohed his claim in a statement signed by its Welfare Officer, Micheal Oputteh on Saturday.

Osemwingie-Ero was arrested in Italy while serving as Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Diaspora Affairs in Edo State in 2019 and spent more than one year in jail before he was eventually freed on the claim of lack of evidence.

He had said, during a visit to Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO of NIDCOM that he was tried under a corrupt Italian Justice System and was racially abused just like many Nigerians.

However, Oputteh, as the welfare officer of the Italy-based Nigerian union is denying the former commissioner’s claims, saying that Nigerians were never targeted by the Italian government.

He said the Italian government had provided great working, living, and friendly environment for Nigerians legally living in Italy.

Oputteh noted that Italy would, just like any other country, arrest, try, and detain in prison anyone found guilty of  flouting its laws by engaging in criminal activities.

According to him, the more than 100,000 Nigerians living in Italy are neither being victimised nor unlawfully detained by Italian authorities contrary to the claim of Osemwingie-Ero that many were being thrown to jail.

“I listened to the interview granted by Osaze Osemwegio Ero, during his visit to Dabiri-Erewa.

“And as a Nigerian living in Italy and an elected official (Welfare Officer) of the National Union of Nigerian Associations in Italy, I am duty-bound to tell the truth so that the public will know what is happening in Italy.

“First and foremost, Italian authorities have never targeted Nigerians for any harassment, nor are they engaged in racial discrimination.

“Precisely, we have more than 100,000 Nigerians living legally in Italy.

“These people are engaged in legitimate businesses and some have even integrated into the Italian society and married Italians while Italians also married Nigerians.

“Some have also acquired their citizenship. How come the same Italy gave Nigerians good abode in Italy. Why are the more than 100,000 thousand Nigerians not arrested and put in prisons?

“It is also surprising that Mr Ero is accusing the Italian Judiciary of corruption and manipulation.

“The same corrupt judiciary tried him and set him free for lack of enough evidence. It means the judiciary is very fair and transparent.

“Ero should leave Nigerians in Italy in peace and should not use his political ambition to cause problems for Nigerians in Italy or between the governments of Nigeria and Italy,” he said in debunking the claims of Osemwingie-Ero over his jail time in Italy.

“The lives of Nigerians in Italy put together are greater than his political ambition. I personally know the extent to which I went in collaboration with the embassy when he was in detention, trying to secure a house for him.

“It is surprising that he is claiming he did not receive any assistance from the government of Nigeria,” he said.

Oputteh who noted that Italy is a sovereign state wondered whether Ero’s utterances and actions were intended to mislead Nigeria onto a diplomatic collision course with Italy.

H advised the former Edo commissioner to seek redress through legal means if he felt so strongly about the way and manner he was treated by the Italian officials.

“My advice to Ero is to approach his issue through legal means to seek redress rather than engaging in media propaganda.

“The law is the law anywhere in the world. Nobody is above the law,” Oputteh said. (NAN)

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