5 Nigerians petition Indian govt. over unlawful detention

Five Nigerians in India who are reportedly being detained unlawfully for the over two years at the Chengalpattu camp in Sri Lanka,Chennai, sent out a plea for help, asking to be released.

The men claimed to have been falsely charged by the police, tortured in prison, refused bail and barred from seeing their families, which is totally against the law which gives a foreigner the right to be granted bail.

They penned a letter to the Indian government, addressing  it to the Prime Minister, pleading to be given a proper trial and  deported to their home country rather than continue with the unfavorable condition which they are kept in.

Read the letter below:

We, the Nigerians here in Chengalpattu camp for Sri Lanka in Chennai are writing this letter pleading to the honorable Prime Minister of India by pouring out our mind as regards our torture and stress which we are going through here in this camp. We have been kept here illegally for two (2) years and six (6) months ever since we got our release from the prison based on the false charges laid against us.

According to the international law when anyone is still an accused he has the right to bail and go out to face the charges preferred against them in competent law courts but in our case immediately we got bailed from the magistrates court to leave the prison, the police came over to the prison gate and re-arrested us again with an order under the section 3(2)E of Foreigners Act 1946 which is not suppose to be used against a common wealth nations which NIGERIA is one of the common wealth nations under the Foreigners Laws (Amendment) Act, 1957 (11 of 1957),

Under the International law which govern us all, no one should be confined in any arbitrary confinement, but Tamil Nadu had not been following the laws that governs foreigners in India. We are going through hell and treated like SLAVES here while our wives and children are suffering out there for two (2) years and six (6) months which has really caused a lot of damage to our families.

We are pleading with the entire central government of India which is presided by the Prime Minister to come to our rescue because if care is not taken we might just die here for no reason out of the pain and stress which we are going through. Looking at the false case we are been accused of, the punishment is not more than six (6) months but we have been kept here illegally with a wrong order 3(2)E of Foreigners Act 1946 which is not meant for any common wealth nations according to the international law.

According to the law if anyone is accused of any crime, its the duty of the judicial court to make sure justice prevails but on our matter it has been a different ball game, a situation whereby the police are taking laws into their own hand in keeping a foreign nationals in a special refugee camp for Sri Lankans for years without any proper trial or attending courts is totally unconstitutional. Nigeria and India have an extremely cordial relationship and Indians living in Nigeria cannot be kept somewhere and treated the way we are been treated and tortured here in Chennai tamilnadu like slaves.

It amounts to racial discrimination and hatred simply because we are Nigerians.

We are really tired and fed up of our situation here in this illegal detention, so we request your Honorable Prime Minister to please intervene on this case of our prolonged, unjust and illegal detention in the name of God and deport us back to our country alive because with the way things are going coupled with torture and pains here we might end our lives because this mental torture is unbearable to us and it has really affected and destroyed our families out there. We just want to go back to our country, we have suffered enough from the hand of Tamil Nadu government and its police.

We are pleading to the Prime Minister to kindly help us get out of this illegal detention here at Chengalpattu Camp in Tamilnadu and kindly deport us back to our country (Nigeria).