Bianca Ojukwu secures release of Nigerian pastor jailed in Benin Republic

…Praises President Tinubu for diplomatic feat

By Nkiruka Nnorom

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has secured the release of a Nigerian national, Pastor Benjamin Egbaji, incarcerated in the Republic of Benin.

Egbaji, a businessman and cleric from Cross River State, was accused of sundry offences and detained in a hospital in Cotonou, the country’s capital, under dehumanising conditions for over two years while his health deteriorated. He was later sent to the prison.

In a statement signed by the Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, Office of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Odumegwu-Ojukwu disclosed that Egbaji was released on Thursday, January 8, following a Presidential Pardon by Beninnoise Preesident, Patrice Talon.

She noted that the gazetted presidential amnesty dated December 17, 2025, followed consistent diplomatic pressure from her office, including a visit to the detained citizen in a Cotonou hospital August last year.

A viral photograph of the sick looking Nigerian citizen chained to a hospital bed in the Republic of Benin had attracted outrage from many Nigerians, prompting an immediate diplomatic moves to secure his release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Highly elated Odumegwu-Ojukwu attributed the diplomatic feat to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to citzen diplomacy as one of the thrusts of his administration’s foreign policy.

The minister, who spoke with the embattled pastor on telephone shortly after he regained freedom, said he was in high spirit and deserved good medical care.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had called on the Beninnoise authorities to release the Nigerian national so that he could have better medical care and also serve out his sentence in Nigeria.

Recall that the Ministry had requested the transfer of the Nigerian national to receive the deserved medical care and serve out his custodial term in Nigeria after Odumegwu-Ojukwu visited Egbaji in the Cotonou hospital alongside the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari.

She had explained that Nigeria was worried over the pace of the Beninnoise authorities in addressing the situation and acceding to its request, not minding the longstanding cordial relations between the two countries, founded on shared cultural heritage, bonds of trust, mutual respect, and a spirit of brotherhood.

In a swift reaction, Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Republic of Benin chapter, Alhaji Mohammad Munir, commended the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for her diplomatic engagement leading to Egbaji’s release.

Munir said that Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu has displayed uncommon commitment to the wellbeing of Nigerians in diaspora.

He praised President Tinubu for the effort in protecting Nigerians outside the shores of the country and urged that more diplomatic approaches be deployed, especially in rescuing innocent Nigerians being incarcerated in foreign prisons.

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