A 23 year-old Nigerian student of a private college
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was sentenced to death by hanging after he
was found guilty of trafficking in 16,936gm of cannabis two years ago.
As
reported by NewStraits Times, the Judicial Commissioner Mohd Zaki Abdul
Wahab ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable
doubt against John Amaechi Eze.
In
his judgment, Zaki said the accused claimed he was waiting to board an
express bus at a restaurant in front of the Lye Huat Garden hall when he
was arrested by police. However, he said the court did not believe his
claim that he did not own the luggage when witnesses had testified that
he was with the luggage all the time.
His
sentencing has elicited a range of reactions and warnings to Nigerians
against trafficking drugs in countries where the stated penalty for such
an offence is the death sentence.
A
Nigerian blogger, Ola, who lives in Malaysia and blogs at
www.madameaproko.blogspot.com shared this experience of living in
Malaysia after the sentencing and warned against trafficking drugs. It
is quite an interesting read:
Now,
for anyone harboring thoughts of trafficking drugs to this country,
this is what you get. It beats me why someone would risk their life, by
taking banned substance to this racist shit hole called Malaysia,
because when issued a visa, it is clearly stated that the punishment for
drüg trafficking in Malaysia is death.
To
be fair and honest to Malaysia, there are some very nice and wonderful
people out there, but they are greatly outnumbered by the bigots among
them. I live and study in Malaysia and I’ve observed a bias pattern in
judicial procedures and policing as regards drüg trafficking and crime
prevention.
My
assertions are based on my day to day experience and observation as a
resident. I have no statistical analysis of the Nigerian population
living in Malaysia neither do I have the exact figures or nationality of the number of cases prosecuted by the Malaysian judiciary.
From
the Nigerian side, The easterners (Igbos) out-number other ethnic
groups within the Nigerian community here. That’s why most Nigerians you
meet are from the east. A lot (of) Nigerians you meet are not in
Malaysia to study, though they are enrolled in one college or another,
they are semi-illiterates or outright illiterates, very lousy, brash and
arrogant (for reasons I don’t understand). Then we have the stranded
group who were duped by travel agents into thinking the pasture in
Malaysia is greener.
In short, You meet criminals of all shapes, size and age. They just sleep,
eat, wake up, and hope the next Maga pays. They are so much, you’ll
think all Nigerians living in Malaysia are criminals, but we have bright
students doing well and graduating in Malaysian Universities, we have
gainfully employed graduates trained by Malaysians themselves (few) and
business men and women doing legitimate business exporting goods to and
from Nigeria (also few compared to the population of the Nigerian
community).
But
the Yahoo boys and drüg traffickers are so high in number it seems
they’ve all relocated from Nigeria to Malaysia. Conditions here favour
them.
Basic infrastructure is great here compared to what we have in Nigeria. 24 hours electricity, running water,
well laid roads, affordable high speed internet, compact 3/4 bedroom
apartment, affordable furniture, little or no scrutiny on international
remittance etc. Malaysia is a Yahoo Boy’s paradise.
Though,
most foreigners especially new comers call them (Malaysians) lazy and
stupid (I still don’t get the rationale behind that).
On the Malaysian side, you’ll meet the Malay Supremacist.
A
Muslim, religious bigot, loud, aggressive and assertive. He (male and
female) hates Jews and despises Christians. He wants to protect the
“sanctity” of Islam, State resources are at his disposal. His opinion
and interest supercedes that of others.
His
ancestors are the first settlers in Peninsular Malaysia. His
interpretation of the Islamic text dictates and guides
the Muslim community and some times the whole nation. His favourite
question when he meets you for the first time in class or anywhere is
“Are you Muslim?”. He runs the country and he knows it.
Then
we have the Chinese Chauvinist, a business tycoon/ hard working
student. Drives flashy cars, he believes his race is the best. He is
rich and he has read stories of Nigerians using Malaysian girls as drüg
mules, black/chemical money stories; he has meet or read of stranded
Nigerians who loiter around Kuala-Lumpur begging for money (these
stranded guys don’t shower, so they stink).
He
cringes when you happen to be in the same elevator, crosses to the
other side of the road when you are walking towards each other and
always thinks you need something from him any time you try to talk to
him. He has held on to so many Nigerian horrible stories and thinks
every Nigerian is like that.
Then,
we have the Angry Indian, always pissed and mean-mugging you. He has
been discriminated against so much that even his language is not
included in the country’s ATM machine (LMAO). He is always trying to
pick fights with you and the first comment he makes is “THIS IS MY
COUNTRY!”. He’ll smash his crash helmet on you at
the slightest provocation or stab you. He also reads of atrocities
committed by Nigerians and sees you as a threat.
So,
living in Malaysia has made me a racism connoisseur of sought. In
fact, I have become so sensitive that I believe I can tell if an
individual is racist within a few seconds of being around them. There
are people in Malaysia whose sole purpose in life is just to ruin your
day. Racism in Malaysia is perfect. It is subtle when it needs to be and brass when necessary.
As a foreigner you might be misled into thinking Malaysia is a boring place and no one gives a damn about you, so you can do what ever you like and get away with it. No, you are seriously mistaken. Malaysia sometimes feels like the North-Korea we watch on T.V. Some citizens are very nosy and they watch and observe
every move you make. I read a news article some weeks ago that says
about 80% of Police personnel don’t do normal Policing but rather, spy
and gather intelligence.
So, my point
is this. Malaysia is a tightly controlled society where the authorities
decide what business prospers, whether legal or illegal.
Elements
within the police control the drüg trade, the distributors are under
their command and they arrest them when it’s politically needed to unite
the country against a common enemy. We hear of stories of Iranian and
Arab drüg traffickers who are quietly deported and warned never to return
to Malaysia but other nationalities are shown off as trophy in front of
news men who broadcast and publish sensational news headlines.
South-east Asian countries
are united against drüg trafficking and they hold meetings regularly to
discuss new strategies on deterrent, Death (rolls eyes).
So,
it baffles me why people still take the risks John Amaechi Eze was
sentenced on January 22; a British Grand mother Lindsay Sandiford was
also sentenced to death on the same day in Indonesia. In the year 2008,
two Nigerians were executed in Indonesia and one in Singapore.
Nigerians, please stop trying to bring drugs into Malaysia.
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