Profiles of 4 Nigerian, others on death row in Indonesia

Here are brief profiles of the inmates, who include two from Australia, one each from Brazil, France and the Philippines, and four from Africa.

Myuran Sukumaran

A ringleader of the Bali Nine drugs smuggling syndicate, Sukumaran was born in London in 1981 and moved with his Sri Lankan family to Australia when he was a child.

He dropped out of university and became involved in the Sydney drugs and party scene. Enticed by the prospect of easy money, in 2005 he helped to organise a shipment of heroin destined for Australia, but was caught and sentenced to death a year later.

Sukumaran said the shock of jail prompted him to change his life and he has become a model prisoner, teaching other inmates English and art.

Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise

Nwolise is a 49-year-old Nigerian who was found guilty in September 2004 of trafficking 1.18 kilos of heroin through Sukarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta in 2002.

His clemency appeal was rejected in February this year.

The previous month, Indonesia’s national narcotics body said he was running a drugs ring in jail, according to Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Okwudili Oyatanze

Fellow Nigerian Oyatanze, 45, was sentenced to death for trafficking heroin, also through Sukarno-Hatta airport in 2001.

His clemency appeal was rejected earlier this year.

Raheem Agbaje Salami

The NDLEA said Salami appears to be Nigerian but holds a Spanish passport and is thought to be also known by the name Jamiu Owolabi Abashin.

He entered Indonesia using a Spanish passport under the name Raheem Agbaje Salami.

He was caught with five kilos of heroin inside a suitcase at the airport in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, on September 2, 1998 and was sentenced to life imprisonment the following year.

That was reduced by the high court to 20 years but he was later given the death sentence by the supreme court.

Martin Anderson

There is some confusion about Anderson’s nationality. A spokesman for Indonesia’s attorney-general said he is Nigerian but Nigeria’s NDLEA said he is a Ghanaian citizen who was born in London in 1964.

He was arrested in Jakarta in 2003 and sentenced to death.

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