Chigozie was arrested at the airport in Ghana while trying to smuggle Marijuana to Hong Kong and was subsequently sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and has served 1 year. Chigozie and other Nigerians who are languishing in Ghanaian prisons are now appealing to the FG to repatriate them back to Nigeria to complete their jail terms. . . Here is an excerpt from an interview some of them had with vanguard. Chigozie said: "I want to first of all, say that I am truly sorry for engaging in drug trafficking and bringing dishonor to my country. Presently, I am very sick and need medical care. But the authorities have refused to allow me and other Nigerian prisoners access to medical attention. . . We are treated like animals and the conditions are terrible. I have witnessed over 100 deaths of Nigerian citizens in Ghanaian prisons and most of their families are not even aware. We appeal to the
government of Nigeria to please act on our behalf and repatriate us back home." . . Another prisoner at Nsawam Medium Security Prison, Ghana said: "I'm serving a jail-term of 50 years for narcotics not worth up to 1kg. I am presently in my 6th year in jail. The Ghanaian police are fond of arresting innocent Nigerians, giving them high sentences of 50, 70 ,100, 150 to 200 years. . . My prosecutor told me that he is dealing with Nigerians as a revenge for what the Nigerian government did to Ghanaians in 1983 and 1985 when they were deported during the infamous Ghana-Must-Go. Another sad part is that most of us are on sick bed without drugs and food. We are in prison yet we feed our selves. . . This is the hardship Nigerian citizens in all the prisons in Ghana are facing. I have been sick for the past three months and they have not taken me to the hospital or given me any drug. They treat us like animals. They give us only dry garri."
