Nigeria ratified an extradition treaty with South Africa on Wednesday, hoping it will deter Nigerians living in South Africa from committing crimes, Information Minister Jerry Gana said.
About 3 000 Nigerians are currently being detained in South Africa for various kinds of crime, Gana said. Under the treaty, offenders will be extradited to face trial in their home country, Gana told journalists at the end of a weekly cabinet meeting.
”We believe that this is going to be a very beneficial treaty to Nigeria because it will allow us to effectively deal with the growing crime rate among Nigerians living in South Africa,” Gana said.
”We think it is most unfortunate that a few of our people are giving Nigeria a bad name in that country,” he added. South African investigators have arrested 22 Nigerian citizens in Johannesburg who ran an online scam claiming to represent local banks listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange, the Business Day newspaper reported last week.
The elite Scorpions unit arrested the racketeers, who operated seven web sites including fake South African Reserve Bank and Development Bank of South Africa sites. Investors were duped into opening online accounts with these banks, the newspaper said.
To register, victims were asked to pay $10 000 and an additional $40 000 in tax and insurance. – Sapa