By Biodun Busari
The arraignment of 42 Nigerian traders arrested by the Mozambican authorities at a spare parts market could not hold on Friday due to weather conditions, PUNCH Diaspora Tales can report.
The traders were to appear before the Maputo City Court.
However, this was halted due to logistics and weather conditions believed not to be favourable in the Southern African country.
Diaspora Tales gathered that security operatives invaded Feira comercial de venda de Peças, Praça de touro, Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, on February 28, 2026, and arrested the Nigerians.
They were detained by the Criminal Investigation Service in Lingamo, Maputo.
The incident was met with outrage as agencies in Nigeria condemned the action and called for their release.
The President of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation in Mozambique, Uchenna Nwafor, on Friday, said, “They were supposed to arraign them in court today, but it was not made possible due to logistics and weather conditions caused by heavy rainfall. They were to appear before Maputo City Court.”
Nigerians targeted
The Mozambican security operatives reportedly stormed the popular spare market, handpicked and beat the 42 Nigerians before leading them away.
Nwafor said there were no allegations against them.
The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, while calling for their immediate release described the action as “distasteful.”
Dabiri-Erewa, in a statement released on Sunday through NIDCOM’s Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, said the detained Nigerians needed medical attention.
In another statement on Thursday, the NIDCOM chairman said the commission had received distress calls from relatives of the detained Nigerians.
“Their families have been reaching out with distress calls and are worried about the condition of their spouses.
“They confiscated their cell phones, personal belongings and money with them as at the time of arrest. The Embassy has written to their Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the office of the Attorney General,” she added.
No crimes
Nwafor stated that the Mozambican government had not mentioned any crimes committed by the Nigerians warranting their arrest and public humiliation.
He said the market had more than 100 Nigerian traders dealing in automobile spare parts.
“Many of us would rather describe it as a kidnapping incident. The reason was that our brothers were arrested and rendered incommunicado. They didn’t allow them to communicate with their families.
“They did not say their crimes. They were just arrested and detained. It took more than seven or eight hours for us to discover where they were taken to. And they were denied access to communication, and no physical contact,” Nwafor added.
Diaspora Tales gathered that Mozambique arrested the Nigerians on a Saturday to keep them in detention for the weekend.
The Nigerian Embassy could not make any official protest until Monday, according to the NIDO in Mozambique.
“So, there was a bit of a delay with the Nigerian Embassy in making a reaction because the police officers do not work on Saturday and Sunday. They’re supposed to follow up the incident immediately on a Monday, but the move was made on Tuesday.
“The target of everybody was to ascertain exactly what happened. We wanted to know if there was an existing crime or accusation, or find something that led to their arrest.
“We went to the extent of going to the Attorney General of the country. Yet, there was no crime that was leveled against them,” Nwafor said.
Proper legal representation
Condemning the action, the NIDO Chairman Continental Africa, Prof. Jude Osakwe, said Mozambican authorities displayed “lack of transparency” in dealing with the Nigerians.
Osakwe questioned why only Nigerian nationals were taken into custody without any official reason communicated to the detainees or their representatives.
He affirmed that the detained Nigerians should be given legal representation in the court of law.
“The suspicious thing is that only Nigerians were arrested since Saturday, and up until now, no one has been informed of the reason for their detention,” Osakwe stated.
The professor also called on the Nigerian embassy to render consular support to the Nigerians and treat the matter with urgency.
“The embassy cannot just sit back and watch Nigerians being molested. The protection of Nigerian citizens abroad is a non-negotiable responsibility of the Nigerian diplomatic mission. The embassy officials must ensure that the detained Nigerians have access to proper legal representation and consular support,” he stated.
Osakwe also appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene and facilitate the freedom of the Nigerians.
The NIDO African chairman stressed that it is high time the Nigerian government stepped in to address the ordeal of the detained citizens.
When the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, was contacted on Thursday over the matter, he said the position of NIDCOM aligned with the stance of the ministry.
According to Nwafor, Nigerians took the matter to media platforms and human rights centres to register their protests.
“The day before yesterday (Wednesday), we locked up our businesses in protest. And we’ve gone virtually everywhere. We’ve gone to their television houses to lay our grievances. We’ve gone to their human rights offices to file our complaints. The news is everywhere on the Internet.
“Before you arrest someone, there should be an existing crime the person must have committed. But here in Mozambique, what they do is they arrest you and they make a case against you,” he added.
The commission also released the names of the detained Nigerians, including Augustine Okeke, Maximus Anayo, Okechukwu Eche, Anaerobi Martins, Stephen Okongwe, Onwujewe Raymond, Chukwunazorom John, Aginam David, Collins Uzoewulu, Okonkwo Johnpaul, Onwunyili Chukwuemeka, Ugochukwu Ezechiedum, Nnamdi Okechukwu, Celestine Okalu, Goodluck Ephrain, Ebuka Pablo, Chukwuemeka Ugwu, Cislouyindika Ezeifeoma, and Chinedu Igwilo.
Others included Ideh Ezinwa, Ogochukwu Okonkwor, Okechukwu Christopher, Chinedu Okeke, Chukwuebuka Oraka, Simon Nnaemeka, Onyeka Ufondo, Chidera Christopher, Nzube Ebere, Ekene Nwana, Christian Muoka, Gerald Godwin, Ogu Inyang, Oluebubechukwu Maduka, Onyedika Kingsley, Donatus Uchi, Chinecherem Alu, Emmanuel Ugwu, Muoneke Mateus, Martin Mbakwe, Ikechukwu Nwali, Lotanna Okeke and Emeka Henry Ekenta.
