The Federal Authorities has facilitated the discharge of a Nigerian pastor, Benjamin Egbaji, who spent over two years in detention within the Republic of Benin underneath what officers described as harsh and degrading situations.
The Minister of State for Overseas Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, confirmed the event on Thursday, following the grant of a presidential pardon by Benin Republic’s President, Patrice Talon.
The pardon, which led to Egbaji’s launch on January 8, 2026, was formally gazetted on December 17, 2025.
An announcement issued in Abuja by the minister’s Particular Assistant on Communication and New Media, Magnus Eze, mentioned Egbaji, a cleric and businessman from Cross River State, had been going through a number of fees earlier than his detention.
He was initially held at a hospital in Cotonou however was later transferred to jail as his well being situation worsened.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu defined that the pastor’s launch adopted months of sustained diplomatic engagement by her workplace, together with a private go to to him whereas he was hospitalised in August 2025.
Based on her, public outrage was heightened after {a photograph} exhibiting Egbaji chained to a hospital mattress circulated extensively on social media, prompting pressing intervention by Nigerian authorities.
“This final result displays persistent and centered diplomatic efforts. We have been alarmed by the circumstances of his detention and his declining well being, and we pursued each accessible channel to safe his launch and entry to correct medical care,” the minister mentioned.
She additionally attributed the breakthrough to President Bola Tinubu’s overseas coverage stance, noting that the administration locations robust emphasis on the safety of Nigerians overseas underneath its Renewed Hope Agenda.
“It is a clear demonstration of citizen diplomacy in motion. The welfare of Nigerians within the diaspora stays a core precedence of this administration,” Odumegwu-Ojukwu added.
The minister additionally disclosed that she spoke with Egbaji shortly after his launch, describing him as being in good spirits however in want of complete medical consideration.
“He has endured quite a bit and would require correct medical care to completely get better,” she mentioned.
Previous to his launch, the Ministry of Overseas Affairs had formally appealed to Beninois authorities to permit Egbaji entry to sufficient remedy and, if vital, to serve the rest of his sentence in Nigeria.
The request adopted a joint go to to the detained pastor by Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Benin’s Minister of Overseas Affairs, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari.
In its correspondence, the ministry cited humanitarian issues and the long-standing cordial relationship between Nigeria and Benin Republic.
Egbaji’s well being, the ministry famous, had “deteriorated considerably” throughout his incarceration, including that his launch would additional strengthen the spirit of cooperation and brotherhood between each international locations.
Reacting to the event, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, NIDO,, Republic of Benin chapter, Alhaji Mohammad Munir, praised the minister’s intervention.
“Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu has demonstrated distinctive dedication to the welfare of Nigerians dwelling overseas.
“We additionally commend President Tinubu and encourage continued diplomatic efforts to help different Nigerians at present incarcerated exterior the nation,” he mentioned.
