Dabiri-Erewa: Don’t Blame All Nigerians for Crimes Committed by a Few

Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has urged both local and international communities not to generalize crimes committed by individual Nigerians as a national problem. Her comments come amid rising tensions, including anti-Nigerian protests in Ghana and a viral video demandingthat  Nigerians be deported.

Speaking during an interview on Arise News, Dabiri-Erewa condemned the ongoing protest in Ghana, stressing that individual crimes should not define an entire nation or ethnic group.

She recalled a case in Indonesia, where 21 Nigerians were on death row for drug-related offenses. Shockingly, 20 of them were from one state in the South-East, while one was from Edo State. While emphasizing that the facts are clear, she insisted this shouldn’t be used to label an entire tribe or region.

“Yes, 20 were from one state, but that does not make everyone from that state a criminal,” she said. “We must stop generalizing. Crime has a federal character—it exists across all ethnicities.”

Dabiri-Erewa explained that many hardworking and law-abiding Nigerians abroad are making positive contributions to their host 

countries, but these success stories rarely make headlines.

“When thousands of Nigerians are doing well abroad, nobody talks about it. But the few involved in crime become the face of the nation. That’s unfair,” she noted.

On the situation in Ghana, she confirmed that the Nigerian High Commission is actively engaging authorities. She stressed that the protest was not directed at all Nigerians, but rather at individuals accused of illegal activities.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has called for calm and assured the public there is “no cause for alarm.” Also weighing in, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Ghana, Ambassador Demola, clarified that the protest focused mainly on undocumented traders and certain illegal activities, not Nigerians as a whole.

Dabiri-Erewa concluded by urging the media to spotlight positive stories about Nigerians abroad as much as it amplifies the negative ones.