CRIME DIGEST gathered that Ikechukwu was arrested at the Lyon Airport in France in 2009 when he went there to confirm his flight ticket to Madrid in Spain.
In a petition to the French ambassador, which was signed by its coordinator, Okechukwu Nwanguma, the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria said Ikechuwku was sentenced to six years imprisonment on Nov. 2011 after 25 months of pre-trial detention.
“Ikechukwu’s plight was brought to our attention by his wife. He is a Nigerian-born IT expert, consultant and a director in a software development company called Makai –IT in Denmark where he has lived since 1990 without any history of police arrest.
“He had arrived in Lyon Airport on Oct. 5, 2009 on an Iberia Airline from Madrid, Spain, and lodged at Ibis Hotel. The next day, he went to the airport to confirm his flight ticket to Madrid. The flight was scheduled for the evening of Oct. 7. He had planned to travel to Paris early in the morning and to the Emirate Embassy where he would collect a registration form for a visit to Dubai. He had been invited to be a Guest Speaker at an IT- Conference organised by the Xing International Network of Professionals.
“After he had finished his business at the Lyon airport, Ikechukwu was on his way to the bus station when he met a black girl and a white man outside the airport with their luggage. When the bus arrived, it turned out that the girl and the white man did not have bus tickets. Unaware that the police had been watching the couple, Ikechukwu assisted them with tickets,” Nwanguma said.
The police arrested Ikechukwu and detained him. For four days, he was denied legal representation. His request to call and speak with his wife or contact the Nigerian Embassy in France was also turned down. He was allegedly taken back to his hotel in handcuffs where his laptop, phones and other personal effects were allegedly seized.
Although he insisted that he only rendered assistance to the strange couple because he thought the man and the woman were genuinely indisposed, Ikechukwu was later charged to court and sentenced to six years imprisonment.
Ikechukwu’s wife, Daisy, told CRIME DIGEST via a telephone interview that she was informed of her husband’s predicament through a phone call in 2010. “I don’t know how he was able to manage it but he was finally able to make a phone call in 2010. I doubt if the police are aware that he is in contact with me. He told me he was being detained at the Masion d’arret dc Lyon Corbas.
“Ordinarily, by French law, Ikechukwu should not remain in jail for more than three years before being deported out of France. But it is more than three years since he was sentenced and he is still in detention, not even in prison. They claim that he trafficked in hard drugs. Although there is no evidence to prove it, they have held on to him and refused to let him go.
“I was contacted by his former lawyer in France to produce evidence that Ikechukwu had a home in Nigeria where he will be deported when freed. I sent them some documents, including my electricity bill, as proof. He was supposed to have been released in April 2012, but the French authorities changed their minds. Till date, I have not heard from them. So I don’t know what is going on,” Daisy said.
Nwanguma told CRIME DIGEST that the petition was sent via email to the Embassy of France in Abuja last month. He said, “The only contact I had from them was when someone replied and asked me to resend the petition to another email address. Since then, there has been no response.”
However, spokesperson for the Embassy of France in Nigeria Mr. Georges Vanin when contacted said, “I can confirm that M. Matthew Ikechukwu was arrested in 2009 in Lyon airport on drug charges. He has been judged and condemned by an independent court and we cannot comment on a trial or judge’s decision.”
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