Chinese police have kept Halliru Yunusa Gwoza, a Nigerian graduate student, in detention since early June when he was arrested over what FIJ learnt to be a “currency exchange offence”.
Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCom) chairperson Abike Dabiri-Erewa blocked one of Gwoza’s friends after he called for help on X. The embassy has been unhelpful too.
Gwoza earned his first and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering on fully-funded Chinese scholarships and received another scholarship to undertake his PhD as a result of his brilliant academic performance.
Many small-scale Nigerian businesses import goods from China, and the country is home to a growing Nigerian community, including students.
Gwoza used to engage in currency exchange for Nigerian traders and fellow students trying to convert their money to the Chinese Yuan.
According to Mallam Jabir, Gwoza’s childhood friend, he carried out a currency conversion deal with a friend recently.
Following that transaction, the police arrested Gwoza and put his friend under house arrest.
“I think there are some issues with his partner and Gwoza was linked to it. The police followed up with the case, leading to his arrest,” Jabir told FIJ on Friday. He had earlier tagged Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCom) chairperson Abike Dabiri-Erewa to a post he made about his friend on X.
“The police have invited the partner, confiscated his passport and put him under house arrest while Gwoza is in detention pending investigation.
“The first time a lawyer we hired applied for his bail, the police rejected the application saying they were still investigating. We were not happy with the way the lawyer was handling the case, so we disengaged him.
“I think we have hired a new lawyer and the lawyer has visited him and confirmed that he was doing well. The police told the new lawyer that he would hear from them very soon.”
Jabir added that Gwoza’s family did not have the full picture of the allegations against him.
He stated that the matter had been reported to the Nigerian Embassy in China but it had not done anything towards Gwoza’s release.
“The embassy said they were aware of the case and that’s all they have been saying,” Jabir added.
After tagging her to the post about Gwoza’s detention in China, Dabiri-Erewa blocked Jabir on X. “I was shocked because that was the first time I would engage her in my life,” he said.
Gwoza is from Kano State and his father was a former assistant commissioner of police.
*Re: FG, Dabiri-Erewa uninterested as Chinese police arrested Nigerian student for alleged financial crimes*
ReplyDeleteThe attention of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) was drawn to the above matter published on some blogs.
The matter has been taken up by the Nigerian embassy in China and receiving necessary attention and thorough investigation.
However, Nigerians who want to contact or petition the Commission should endeavour to e- mail: admin@nidcom.gov.ng or drop at NIDCOM office in Abuja or Lagos.
Alternatively, NIDCOM social media X handle (formally Twitter )is also available on line (@nidcom_gov) and other social media handles of the Commission.
Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa is one government official that has tried to use her personal handle on social media apps, particularly Twitter for good , like dealing with issues from the diaspora that needs attention. However apart from her handle being hacked , thereby loosing over a million followers,Twitter ( now X) has virtually been turned to a highly toxic space which has defeated the purpose of using it as a decent tool of communication .The Commission reassures Nigerians, especially those in the Diaspora of continued robust engagement while their welfare is topmost priority in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda as captured in the 4Ds Foreign Policy Agenda of Democracy, Demography, Development and Diaspora.
*E-Signed* .
Abdur-Rahman Balogun
Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, NIDCOM, Abuja.
Sept. 7, 2025.
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