MBABANE – The family of a Nigerian national held in cells pending deportation has broken silence, stating that they stand ready to pay for his fees should he need to.
However, Justus Udochukwu Ibe’s brother, who preferred to remain anonymous, says he can personally pay for his brother’s flight ticket back home on the condition that he is not deported by Eswatini.
His comments come after the government allegedly facilitated the deportation of 40 Chinese nationals. High Court judge Justice Ticheme Dlamini was told by the government – respondents in the application filed by Ibe and two others – that the budget for deportations has been depleted.
The Ibes said the lawyers have kept them abreast of Justus’s situation and that while he is being frustrated under unclear situations, he should have been granted citizenship, which he has been processing.
Ibe, Swaburu Swaibu Wengi, a Tanzanian national, and Kyobe Kisseka from Mauritius have been in between courts, the Magistrates Court in Mbabane, which convicted them, and the High Court, where they lodged an application challenging the deportation stance.
Court records show that the Magistrates Court convicted and sentenced them for being in the country illegally. It also issued the optional fine, which they paid.
They argue that they should be free by now, as a matter of fact, from August 13, 2026, but they are still detained, leading to their urgent application at the High Court.
They are seeking orders to stop their deportation, secure their immediate release from custody and have their arrests and continued detention declared unlawful.
The judge referred the matter back to the Minister of Home Affairs, Princess Lindiwe, sting that he cannot usurp the minister’s powers and issue an order that would perhaps grant the foreigners Eswatini citizenship.
The application cites the national commissioner of police, the commissioner general of His Majesty’s Correctional Services, the Eswatini Government and the attorney general as respondents.
Justus said they were arrested on July 16, 2026, by Mbabane police.
The charges were contravening Section 14(2)(c), read with Section 8(1), of the Immigration Act No. 17 of 1982.
On July 20th, 2026, they were convicted by the Mbabane Magistrates Court.
They all pleaded guilty to their charges. Mitigating, they told the court they were in the country legally, producing valid travel documents and visas issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Justus said he first arrived in Eswatini in 2017, renewing the passport in 2023. He received assistance when his passport expired, with the Eswatini embassy in Pretoria issuing him a renewed visa legitimising his stay.
The court found them guilty and sentenced them to five months’ imprisonment, with an option to pay a fine of E500 each.
The court decided that they should remain held at Sidwashini Correctional Services for a period of 14 days pending a decision by the minister for Home Affairs on the strength of Section 8 of the Immigration Act.
However, it is near 50 days, excluding detention at the Mbabane Police Station and the conviction.
After the HMCS issued their liberation warrants on August 13, 2026, they had been back and forth between Mbabane Police Station and Sidwashini Correctional Facility, and no definitive decision on their fate had been made.
They complain that there’s no explanation why they are still in holding cells up to this day. Their lawyers, Vukile Ndzimandze of Lucas BKS Dlamini Attorneys, have also not been updated, Justus claims.
“We have remained in the correctional facility since then, and our passports remain in police possession.
“No reason was given for retaining our passports, and no application for our detention was made during the criminal trial,” Justus said.
The magistrate also supposedly stated that, as per the court order, they were supposed to be out of custody and that their continued detention had not been sanctioned by that court.
Justus implicates a police officer identified as Sergeant Bheki, who apparently informed them that the court had ordered that they remain in custody.
Justus says he has a three-year-old child with a Swati woman and intends to apply for Eswatini citizenship, saying that the period he has spent in the country qualifies him to apply.
They are adamant that in terms of Section 8(3)(b) of the Immigration Act, the absence of an order from a court meant their detention remained unlawful.
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