FG Secures Release Of Nigerian Pastor Serving 10-year Sentence In Benin Republic

The Federal Government has secured the release of a Nigerian national, Pastor Benjamin Egbaji, who was serving a 10-year jail sentence in the Republic of Benin.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, disclosed that Egbaji regained his freedom on Thursday, January 8, following a presidential pardon granted by Benin’s President Patrice Talon following diplomatic engagements by Nigeria.

Egbaji, a businessman and cleric from Cross River State, was accused of several offences and initially detained under severe conditions at a hospital in Cotonou, where his health reportedly deteriorated for over two years before he was eventually transferred to prison.

He was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl, Bright Sarah Karls, in 2011, convicted of the charge and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Cotonou, Benin Republic, on July 24, 2024.

The cleric was also ordered to pay a fine of $3,300 to Sarah Ahouandjinou and another $3,300 to the Benin National Institute for Women’s Affairs (INF).

Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the presidential amnesty, gazetted on December 17, 2025, was the culmination of months of diplomatic pressure mounted by her office, including a personal visit to the detained Nigerian in August last year.

She recalled that a viral photograph showing Egbaji chained to a hospital bed had sparked outrage among Nigerians and prompted urgent diplomatic intervention by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The minister attributed the breakthrough to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to citizen diplomacy, describing it as a core pillar of Nigeria’s foreign policy under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

She noted that the Diaspora component of the Four-Ds foreign policy framework — Democracy, Demography, Diaspora and Development — places strong emphasis on the protection of Nigerians abroad.

Speaking shortly after Egbaji’s release, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said she had spoken with him by telephone and confirmed that he was in high spirits but in need of urgent medical attention.

She explained that Nigeria had repeatedly appealed to Beninois authorities to either release Egbaji on humanitarian grounds or allow him to complete his sentence in Nigeria to enable him access better medical care.

According to her, these requests were made during her visit to the Cotonou hospital alongside Benin’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, and in subsequent formal diplomatic communications.

In one of such letters to her Benin Republic counterpart, Odumegwu-Ojukwu had appealed for compassion, noting that Egbaji had lived in Benin Republic for more than three decades, contributing to the country as an entrepreneur, pastor and community leader.

She wrote that two independent medical experts appointed by the court had recommended that he be transferred abroad for urgent treatment, as available medical interventions in Benin had proved ineffective.

“In the spirit of our longstanding friendship and in recognition of the humanitarian imperative, we kindly request that Pastor Egbaji be repatriated to Nigeria to serve out the remainder of his sentence in a Nigerian Correctional Centre,” the minister said in the letter.

She added that such a gesture would further demonstrate the enduring bonds of fraternity and cooperation between Nigeria and the Republic of Benin.

Reacting to the development, Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Benin Republic chapter, Alhaji Mohammad Munir, commended Odumegwu-Ojukwu for what he described as her exceptional diplomatic effort in securing Egbaji’s release.

Munir said the minister had shown uncommon commitment to the welfare of Nigerians in the diaspora and praised President Tinubu for prioritising the protection of citizens abroad.

He urged the Federal Government to intensify diplomatic efforts to rescue other Nigerians unjustly incarcerated in foreign countries.