Nigerian drug smuggler hanged
January 26, 2007 12:40pm
 SINGAPORE hanged a 21-year-old Nigerian man for drug smuggling today, despite pleas from the Nigerian president, the UN and international human rights groups to spare his life.
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi was executed about 6am (0900 AEDT) at the city-state's Changi prison, Stanley Seah, assistant superintendent at Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau, said.
Tochi was arrested at Singapore's Changi Airport in November 2004 for carrying about 727g of heroin.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo asked the Singapore Gon Tuesday to grant a reprieve to Tochi, who was a champion football player in Nigeria according to human rights group Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign.
In Geneva, the UN's special investigator for extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions said yesterday that Singapore would be violating international legal standards on the use of the death penalty if it went ahead with the hanging.
The death sentence is mandatory for anyone caught carrying more than 15g of heroin in Singapore, which enforces one of the harshest anti-drug laws in the world.
Australian drug smuggler Nguyen Tuong Van, from Melbourne, was hanged in Singapore in December, 2005, despite repeated pleas for clemency.
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As Nigerian Footballer, Tochi, 19, Awaits the Hangman in
Singapore
By Phil Tam-Al Alalibo
On Friday, January 26, 2007, Nigerian teenager and football rising star, nineteen-year old Master Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi will be hanged in spite of spirited pleads from countless international organizations and the federal government of
Nigeria
for the island nation to commute his sentence or grant a presidential pardon. If history is anything to go by, Tochi’s chances of escaping the hangman’s noose are almost non-existent as the current president of
Singapore
, who considers clemency pleas in consultation with his cabinet, has never granted pardon or clemency to any convicted persons, including Singaporeans sentenced to death for drug peddling. When this grim possibility is juxtaposed with the reality that
Singapore
is only bested by
China
in the domain of most persons (492) executed in the last few years, the prospects for Tochi to remain alive become bleaker.
His story which has made the headlines of major daily newspapers around the globe and has garnered the prime attention of death penalty opponents, including Amnesty International, brings to fore the contentious issue of capital punishment and its merits. But more importantly, it is a story of shattered dreams and hopes of a teenager who left the shores of his country at an early age in search of fame and fortune like those before him. For the benefit of those who may not be aware of Tochi’s story, here is an ambitious young boy who dropped out of school at the age of fourteen and played football in
Senegal
for a living. After a disappointing exploration in that West African country, he returned to
Nigeria
and set his eyes on
Dubai
to play professional football.
Setting out to
Dubai
, he was stranded in
Pakistan
and seemingly, that was where his troubles began. He went to
Pakistan
in the mistaken belief that he would travel to
Dubai
by rail not aware that the
Arabian Sea
stood in his way and that there was no rail link between the two countries. Confused, he went to a Catholic Church for assistance and there he met a gentleman by the name of Smith who promised to take him to
Dubai
. They traveled together to
Kabul
,
Afghanistan
and then to
Dubai
. But unable to gain entrance into the Arab country, Smith convinced him, since Singapore had no visa requirements for impending visitors, even Nigerians, to take a small bag supposed to be containing 100 capsules to that country
to deliver to another gentleman by the name of Marshal and use the opportunity to seek a professional football contract. Smith stated that
Marshal
would in turn give him $2,000 which he would need to gain entry into the country (
Singapore
). He assured Tochi that the capsules were African herbs meant to strengthen the body when taken. He showed Tochi a picture of Marshal so he would recognized him once in
Singapore
and with that Tochi set off.
He arrived
Changi
Airport
(in
Singapore
) on November 27, 2004, at about 1:45 pm, on a flight from
Dubai
and spent a day in the lounge of Terminal 2. His fate was sealed; it appeared, when he approached the desk of the Transit Hotel for a room. At first, he was told the hotel was fully booked, but was contacted when a room became available. When the desk attendant upon checking his passport noticed that he had been in the lounge for more than 24 hours, she contacted the airport police in line with standard procedure.
Three officers arrived and questioned Tochi as to his mission in
Singapore
. He told them he was in the country for football trials but admitted that he had not made any specific arrangement with any clubs. He stated that he hoped to contact officials of the country’s football association to inform them of his intentions and seek advice on how to proceed. When the officers searched his two bags, they found 100 capsules well wrapped in layers of aluminum foil, adhesive tape and plastic.
Questioned as to the contents of the capsules, Tochi explained that they were African herbs meant for strengthening the body when taken and that he was given the capsules by Smith in
Dubai
for onward delivery to Marshal who was to meet him at the airport. To demonstrate its harmless contents, Tochi swallowed one capsule in the presence of the officers, but they were hardly convinced. Officers were then sent to look for Marshal and they found him milling around the airport waiting for an opportune moment to receive his consignment; he was brought into Tochi’s hotel room for identification. Based on the picture he saw of him (Marshal) in
Dubai
, he confirmed that he was the one meant to receive delivery of the capsules. Upon further examination by officers of the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) called in by the three attending officers, the capsules were found to contain a lethal quantity of diamorphine, not African herbs, and upon this discovery, Tochi was induced to regurgitate the capsule he had innocently swallowed in his ignorant demonstration to save his life and preserve the evidence. The grand total was 727.02 grams, well more than the 15 grams mandated for the death penalty.
When the case went to trial, the judge opined that since he was to be given $2,000 for his role in carrying what he thought was African herbs; he should have known that the contents were not African herbs, but drugs worth millions on the streets. The judge further noted that Tochi, in light of his travels to Senegal, Dubai and Pakistan, was rich in life’s experiences and therefore should have had the temerity to know that he was been lackeyed into this crime. Court papers quote the judge as saying;
“…he ought to have known. He "did not want to ask any questions or check the capsules himself." Tempted by the large sum of money, "he had willfully turned a blind eye on the contents of the capsules. Consequently, even if he may not have actual knowledge that he was carrying diamorphine, his ignorance did not exculpate him because it is well established that ignorance is a defense only when there is no reason for suspicion and no right and opportunity of examination."
Based on this feeble evidence incapable of meeting the legal test of “beyond reasonable doubt” expected in a capital punishment case, Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, was sentenced to death on December 22, 2005 and his appeal dismissed on March 16, 2006; in less than forty-eights hour, he would be put to death in a foreign land. It should be noted that Marshal, the intended recipient of the consignment whose real name is Okele Nelson Malachy, 33, stateless, but linked somehow to South Africa, will also make his acquaintence with death on the same day. To ensure the teenager's freedom, Tochi's Singaporean lawyer, Mr. Ravi, has been in Nigeria campaigning and lobbying the federal goverment to swing into action quickly with the solemn belief that this is an utter miscarriage of justice. Tochi lost his mother as a child and his 87-year old gravely ill father is not aware of the fate that is about to befall his son. Tochi's older brother, Uzonna, noted that the family is hiding the tragedy from the old man less he too go the way for perdition.
No matter what side of the fence one may be on the thorny issue of capital punishment, Tochi’s case is a compelling one that deserves further scrutiny. This could not be truer given the fact the judge did not convict him based on his willful violation of the law, but on the presupposition that he should have known. It stands to good reason that available evidence points to Tochi’s innocence – one of such is the fact that he did not attempt to conceal his load when he was advised that the police had been called. In the intervening twenty minutes before their arrival, he was free to roam about the lounge without any guards and could have attempted to dispose of the capsules. Additionally, his abrupt gestation of a capsule is further evidence of ignorance of its lethal and criminal contents. If the judge contends that the large sum offered should have made him realize the capsules contained expensive drugs, African herbs, just like Rhino horns or elephant tusks, can be rare and expensive, thus, commanding such compensation.
What is ironic in all these is the unexpected involvement of the otherwise dormant and sheerly aloof Nigerian government. The House of Representative recently passed a motion asking the president to swing into action. Even the Nigerian Embassy in
Singapore
is on task. Through the nation’s Attorney-General, an appeal letter has been sent to the Justice Minister of
Singapore
to consider the age and inexperience of Tochi. Even President Obasanjo has weighted in and asked the Singaporean president for leniency. But the world will not forget in a hurry how in spite of passionate pleads for clemency from John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, a leader held in better stead than Obasanjo in the international community, to spare the life of an Australian sentenced to death, Singaporean president turned the other way as the twenty-five year old was quietly introduced to the noose only two years ago. Before then, a German and a Briton, both Western citizens, seen, unfortunately, in better light than Africans, were introduced to the same noose against pleads from their home governments. From all indications, Tochi may have only a few hours to live and may have very well been a victim of circumstances, preyed upon by hardened and calculated criminals with no conscience. But if he is truly innocent of this crime, the truth shall set him free, even posthumously, as the Christian holy book assures.
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The author can be reached at alalibo@gmail.com
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