According to him, the youths are held and committed to maximum prisons in Italy because they do not have the resources to access an independent lawyer.
He explained that because they don’t have money to take lawyers; the prosecutor gives them government lawyers that he uses to manipulate them.
He further called for the stakeholders’ collaboration of all stakeholders including the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and the media, among others to rescue the youths.
“As a senior government official, there was no support from the Nigerian government during my ordeal in Italy.
“I have spoken to the chairperson of Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, who is very proactive and vocal, and she’s ready to work with us to ensure that those people are released,” he said.
The ex-commissioner explained that he was on an official trip to Germany, in 2019, to have a meeting with the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, on the Benin artefact restitution campaign when he was arrested in Amsterdam and illegally detained for over a year in Italy.
He added that he was a victim of racial discrimination and manipulation of a very corrupt prosecutor of the Italian justice system.