Nigerian national’s stay in Nagaland jail continues
Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 29
There is a concept applied in law called Double Jeopardy. The principle basically implies that no person can be prosecuted or convicted twice for the same offence.
Yet a fate comparable in nature to the principle struck a foreign national in the Indian state of Nagaland. The man, Nigerian Nweze Raymond Chinenyeuba, continues to live in prison well after completing his specified prison term.
Prosecuted under section 14 of the Foreigners Act, his tryst with Nagaland began in September 2016.
Chinenyeuba, along with a friend, also a Nigerian, was enroute to Imphal from Guwahati when they were detained at the New Field Check Post, Dimapur for not possessing proper travel documents.
While in detention, Chinenyeuba’s friend could produce the requisite passport and visa while charges were pressed against both. As for him, he could not and resulted in him being tried and prosecuted under the Foreigners Act.
As per the order issued by a Dimapur court, his passport was purportedly stolen during his stay in Tamil Nadu.
The court order issued on October 25, 2017 stated that he entered Nagaland without “valid original documents” and thus the guilty verdict. The sentencing was condensed to 8 months 17 days for the period already undergone as a detainee since his arrest on September 7, 2016.
“The lenient view is opted since the accused have no criminal antecedents and this was his first offence. Moreover, the accused pleads for an opportunity to lead a reformed life,” it read.
It further directed the district authorities to initiate steps for his deportation through the Nigerian Embassy.
But it has yet to be affected 11 months on since.
Lodged at the Dimapur District Jail, he awaits freedom while his efforts to reach out to the Home Ministry, Ministry of Home Affairs, Nigerian Embassy and even the Prime Minister have virtually gone unheard.
His story only made the news after a Dimapur-based activist petitioned the Supreme Court in August this year. The SC heard and disposed the case on September 20 while directing the MHA and MEA to coordinate to act within 4 weeks.
Still ambiguity prevails with regard to bureaucratic proceedings for his release from jail and the eventual deportation.
Over-serving a prison term
What could have possibly led to a man serving beyond a specified prison term has been a question that remains unanswered.
The Morung Express attempted to delve into the question only to deduce that a number of human factors combined to hand Chinenyeuba the ordeal of over-serving a prison term.
Communication gap, including diplomatic and bureaucratic red tape with a good dose of apathy and local infrastructural deficiency more or less contributed to an unfortunate and no less embarrassing procedural faux pas.
Official sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, maintained that the state authorities have written to the MHA to initiate diplomatic proceedings with the Nigerian Embassy through the MEA subsequent to the Dimapur court’s October 2017 order. The authorities here reportedly did not receive any response to message(s).
One of the sources held that tedious bureaucratic and diplomatic protocol is partially to be blamed. “In Nagaland state’s defence, we simply cannot directly contact the Nigerian Embassy and deport. Laid down procedure has to be followed, which includes the state authorities contacting the MHA through official routes with the latter coordinating with the MEA to get in touch with the Embassy,” the source said. He also did not rule out the likelihood of an unreceptive Embassy.
How far it is true could not be independently verified.
It was though informed that the matter was deliberated at a meeting of a committee of government officials in Dimapur on September 28. It likely was the upshot of the SC directive.
The committee decided to write to the Nagaland state Home Department to apprise the MHA once again, informed another source.
In addition to the inferred bureaucratic and diplomatic lapses, non-existent detention facilities for foreign detainees in Nagaland further magnified the blushes for the state while unofficially extending the jail stay for Chinenyeuba.
In the absence of such a facility, the authorities had but one option to continue detaining the Nigerian national in jail even after completion of the sentence. To put it technically, it is unlawful and a violation of human rights, the source added.
