BANGKOK: A total of 338 Nigerian inmates will be returned to their home country to serve the rest of their jails terms around the end of this month.

It will be the largest batch of Nigerian prisoners to be sent back under an agreement reached with Nigeria on Jan 16.

Natthee Jitsawang, deputy chief of the Corrections Department, said Nigeria was the last of 17 foreign countries to have signed a treaty on transfer of prisoners with Thailand.

Up to 99% of Nigerians being jailed here are convicted drug traffickers, he said.

Those eligible for the transfer programme must have served time in Thai jails for at least four years, or eight years in the case of those serving life sentences. Those sentenced to death are not eligible for the programme.

Ten Nigerian inmates failed to meet the criteria and would remain in Thai prisons, Mr Natthee said.

The Nigerian government has agreed to bear all expenses for the transfer. It would send a chartered plane to pick up the 338 inmates, he added.

Archived from Bangkok Post