Nigeria and Britain on Thursday signed a Prisoners Transfer Agreement (PTA) in Abujia, the capital of the West African country, to pave the way for the repatriation of some of the 521 Nigerians currently serving jails terms in the UK.
Nigeria's Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke and the British Justice Minister Jermey Wright signed the transfer agreement on behalf of their respective countries.
The new prison agreement will not require a prisoners' consent before repatriation even as the UK has pledged to commit 1 million pounds to help improve the condition of prisons in Nigeria.
Speaking at the ceremony, Adoke said the signing of the agreement was an indication of the friendly and cordial relationship between both countries.
Both countries have been able to successfully negotiate and reach a consensus on the prison transfer agreement, which is quite commendable, he added.
"This I must say is a credit to both countries in seeing that we produced a document that is acceptable to both countries," he said.
"It is important to note the commitment of the federal government to the signing of this agreement and I must commend the National Assembly for expeditiously reviewing the provisions of our law," the Nigerian minister said.
According to him, the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan remains irrevocably committed to the welfare of Nigerians residing in the UK, even in the formal signing of this agreement.
"It is therefore our expectation that the government of the United Kingdom continue to accord more convicted Nigerians appropriate legal protection under UK law," he said.
Jeremy, who said there was only one British national in Nigeria prison, commended the National Assembly for passing legislation that paved the way for the signing of the agreement.
He reiterated the UK government commitment to support improvement of prisons reforms in the country and noted that UK had provided some assistance for the improvement of Kiriki prisons in Lagos.
Jeremy said he was hopeful that by the end of the year both countries would demonstrate that the agreement is an effective and meaningful agreement by the transfer of prisoners as soon as it is ratified.
He said the signing of the agreement had opened a range of opportunities for partnership in other areas including the criminal justice system.
The UK minister later explained to journalists that not all the 521 Nigerians serving in UK jails would be eligible for the transfer.
"The sentence that they are serving would need to be longer than 12 months for this agreement to be relevant to them," he said.
Earlier the British minister paid a courtesy call on Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Viola Onwuliri.
He responded to questions from the media on the fate of high profile Nigerians currently serving in UK jail, including former Delta Governor James Ibori, under the new prison transfer agreement.
Onwuliri described the agreement as "historic" and noted that after the signing experts from both countries would work out modalities for implementation before its ratification.
