NiDCOM Claims ‘Not Aware’ Of Nigerian Lady Jailed In Cote D’Ivoire After Tweeting It Was Investigating Matter

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has said that it was not aware of a trending story on Twitter about a Nigerian lady (Itunu Olajumoke Babalola) who had reported an alleged theft case at her residence (in 2019) to the Cote d’Ivoire police but was later sent to prison.

NIDCOM’s Head of Media, Public Relations And Protocol, Abdulrahman Balogun, spoke to our correspondent on Monday.

His comments came few hours after the commission had retweeted a post which captured the alleged development, tweeting “we will investigate and get back with our findings. Our Mission in Abidjan will also help out.”

We will investigate and get back with our findings.
Our Mission in Abidjan will also help out.

The Commission has been to several countries such as Togo, Benin Republic, Brazil, South-Africa, etc to facilitate the release of some Nigerians wrongfully arrested and incarcerated. https://t.co/c4Ubqknko8

— Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (@nidcom_gov) March 15, 2021

Despite the commission’s earlier tweet concerning the story which went viral on twitter , Balogun told THE WHISTLER, that the agency had no knowledge about the issue but advised those concerned to write to the commission.

“One, we have not been contacted, we are not aware of such a case. So the procedure is that the family will write us or whoever is concerned will write us… we are not aware. I don’t have the facts of the matter, so I cannot comment on it. I am saying my Commission (NIDCOM)..we are not aware of it,” he said.

THE WHISTLER reported that a journalist, David Hundeyin, claimed that Itunu had reported a theft matter to the Cote d’Ivoire police but the incident turned soar.

He tweeted:“She spent the next 4 days in police custody, after which she was taken out of the cell and offered her freedom if she agreed to sign papers dropping her case.

“For whatever reason despite the clear bad faith displayed by the Ivorian police, Itunu says she rejected the offer and chose to go to court instead.

“The decision to go to court turned out to be a monumental error of judgment compounded by her own naivety about the Ivorian justice system.

“The (French-speaking) court did not allow her adequate legal representation or give her a chance to properly state her case. She was speedily convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.”

The Ivory Coast government has not responded to the development as of the time of this report.