Nigerian convicted in China for fraud claims innocence, seeks justice

A Nigerian, Dirisu Abusari Dodo, who was convicted and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in China for an alleged fraud, has written to the Abike Dabiri-Erewa–led Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), asking the agency to intervene as he was unjustly convicted.

In the letter through his lawyer, Alao Momodu, Dodo begged the Commission and the Federal Government to come to his aid as he was not given a fair judgment during the trial.

In its reply to the appeal, NIDCOM said that Dodo’s petition had been forwarded to the Nigerian Consulate in Guangzhou and he will surely get justice.

Momodu had earlier written a letter on behalf of the convict to the Yuexiu District Police Chief, the District People’s Court, Guangzhou city and the Guangdong Province, demanding that the case against Dodo be reinvestigated and reviewed.

The letter to the Yuexiu Police Chief read in part:

“Our client needs your protection as a non-citizen of your country; we request and plead that he should be removed from this fraud case and be freed since he never gained any proceeds from the criminal activities.”

Momodu who also demanded a review of the legal advice with the aim to exonerate Dodo from the criminal case, appealed to the Chinese police to cause a detailed reinvestigation into the matter in order to come to a conclusion that Dodo was not part of the crime but a victim of circumstance while performing his legitimate business activities.

“We are solicitors to the family of Mr. Dirisu Abusari Dodo who resides and does legitimate business in your country with Nigerian Passport Number A02193276 and lives at Guangzhou city, Guangdong Province, China,” the letter began.

“We are ceased with the facts of this case and it is our legal opinion that our client, Mr. Dirisu Abusari Dodo, is a victim of circumstance in the course of performing his daily business. Our client has so much at stake to jeopardize his freedom and happiness and that of his wife who is your citizen, and their little kids.

“Our client has lived in China for the past 10 years, doing business and even married a Chinese lady. As a businessman, he often engages in the business of helping entrepreneurs to receive money from different parts of the world for the sole purpose of assisting them to purchase goods and products in China.

Read also: China jails 17 for smuggling pangolin scales worth $29.7m from Nigeria

“This he has done diligently over the years and never had any issue in relation to fraud. We believe that your records will show that he has no previous criminal records in your country.

“During the course of his business, he received a call from an unknown person requesting that he assist them to buy some goods in China. Subsequently, they requested for his account details, which he furnished them.

“In the course of their discussion, they told him that someone, one Mr. Li, will transfer the money for the purpose of assisting them to purchase the goods. Having received the money for the goods, they further called him that he should no longer purchase the goods but rather return the money to them through transfer.

“Without hesitation, he complied and returned the said money to them without any knowledge of fraud since they were the ones that contacted him for business initially.

“Our client was surprised when this issue came up and believing he has done nothing wrong, he submitted himself for investigation.

“Sir, if he was part of the fraud gang he wouldn’t have done that, this is why we said and still reiterate that our client is a victim of circumstance that fell a victim of fraudsters. He never envisaged what is happening now but this is part of the hazard of doing business.”

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