Senate, on Tuesday, disclosed that no fewer than 153 Nigerians are presently awaiting execution for their involvement in illicit global drug trade in Malaysia and China, a development it said was very embarrassing to the country and needs to be curtailed by the Nigerian government through relevant agencies.

Picture: Nov 26, 2014 – Nigerian Man Sentenced To Death For Drug Trafficking In Malaysia, Abuchi Ngwoke For Execution

This was revealed in a motion sponsored by Senator Gbenga Ashafa (APC Lagos East) and supported by 21 others who that Harm Reduction International (HRI), a United Kingdom-based NGO said 33 countries impose the death penalty for drug-related offences.

Ashafa In the motion titled, "Nigerians involvement in illicit global drugs trade and increase in domestic drug abuse by Nigerian youth", raised the alarm that many Nigerians are currently on death row in different countries of the world for their involvement in illicit drugs attracting capital punishment in those countries.

According to him, not less 153 Nigerians are presently on death row in Malaysia and China alone for alleged Offences bordering on illicit drugs trafficking.

He chronicled the ugly development further by saying, "apart from the cases of Malaysia and Indonesia, at least one Nigerian is on the death row in Singapore for drug-related offences.

"Two Nigerians were executed in China in April 2015, but 120 other Nigerians are still on the death row for drug-related offences, with 74 of them being held in Guangdong and Guanxi Provinces.

"Four out of 11 Nigerians were executed in April 2015 by Indonesia despite pleas for leniency by Nigeria, the United Nations and Amnesty International".

Senator Ashafa was worried that in spite of the execution, some desperate Nigerians were not deterred, stressing that "the case for leniency was rendered impotent because, at that point, seven fresh cases of drug trafficking involving Nigerians had just emerged in Indonesia", going by newspaper reports.