The family of Mr Nnamdi Peter Okafor of Iruowelle village, Awka-Etiti, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State has appealed to the Federal Government to urgently intervene in the continued detention of their brother, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, in Ethiopia and take all lawful diplomatic and legal steps towards securing his release.
The family who spoke through his uncle, Mr Onyebuchi Okafor, made the appeal during a press briefing in Awka where they asked Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerian Embassy in Addis Ababa, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and other relevant government agencies to resolve the matter as their brother faces 12 years imprisonment.
Mr Okafor, a 65-year old businessman and Managing Director of Afroasian Medic and Miles Logistics Ventures was arrested last March in Ethiopia after six kilogrammes of illicit and hard drugs were found in a bag of stockfish which his company was serving as a courier for to India.
They urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to urgently review investigative findings of the Nigerian Police Force who had exonerated Mr Okafor of any culpability in the drug trafficking syndicate and an earlier commendation by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA where they praised Mr Okafor and his company for cooperating with investigations that led to the arrest of one of traffickers.
They, therefore, urged NDLEA not to renerge on the commendation and to release their investigation report so that Ethiopian authorities has already agreed that if Nigerian authorities present evidence that exonerates Mr Okafor, they are willing to release him.
According to the family, their brother cooperated with investigations as he was unaware of the prohibited substances and had no knowledge of their concealment in the cargo which led to the arrest of one of the suspects, Mr Ejike Akputa while other suspects: Mr Onyemechi Akputa and Mrs Kelechi Akputa remain at large.
They further insisted that findings by the police and existing evidence indicated that Mr Okafor was not knowingly involved in the alleged drug trafficking activity.
Contributing, the Head of Nze na Ozo society in Iruowelle Awka-Etiti, Chief Emma Okudo, vouched for the character and personality of Mr Okafor, saying that he is a man of impeccable character and cannot be involved in any criminal activities while promising that he is ready to serve as a guarantor for Mr Okafor if the NDLEA will release investigation report