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Tag: Nigerians in Libya

  • Nigerians in Libya deportation camp cry out for help

    Nigerians in Libya deportation camp cry out for help

    Nigerians in deportation camp in Libya have cried out for help, alleging that the condition of the camp, which is run by a United Nations agency, is unbearable.

    They, therefore, urged the Nigerian authorities and private organisations to come to their aid.

    The call, which was made in a viral video, showed a number of Nigerians sandwiched in a holding facility.

    They have been in the camp for seven months while awaiting deportation, according to a middle aged man who narrated their ordeal in the video.

    Reacting to the viral video, the Federal Government said it has ordered an immediate investigation into the situation.

    According to the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, the ministry has directed its Embassy in Tripoli to investigate the issue and report back.

    According to Ebienfa: “We have contacted the Embassy of Nigeria in Tripoli to find out details and report to headquarters for necessary action.”

    Though unconfirmed, the man said many of them have died in the process, following the maltreatment from the host authorities.

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    He said they were about 700 when they first got to the camp but they have been reduced to about 400.

    He explained that they are dying almost on a daily basis.

    He said:  “These are  Nigerians as you are watching this video. It is a clear picture of what we are passing through in Libya, today being August 5.  Since over seven months, we have been in this so-called deportation camp, dying in numbers, both children, adult, teenagers and  women.

    “When you take a close look on this video, it will explain the conditions that Nigerians are in, right here in Libya, in a place called Brakchat, 60 kilometres away from Sabhā. And as you are watching this video, it is at our own expense because we are restricted from using phones.

    “You can see how Nigerians are lying here for over seven months. And this is how we keep lying and we keep counting dead souls on a daily basis. Even as of yesterday, we lost a child and a teenager here because of maltreatment and the punishments we are going through here.

    “Please, as you are watching this video, it is a wake-up call for Nigeria’s intervention over our situation right here. And the number of Nigerians here are approximately 400 in number, though we were up to 700 when we came here. But the death rate here has declined the number to about 400 in approximation.

    “Please, we have to do this video as a proof to Nigeria over what we are passing through here.

    “Even the UN that is in charge of this deportation process, none of the officials is here to oversee what Nigerians are passing through here. Since we came here, none of them has come here to monitor the welfare and the well-being of the people. Even to some extent, when they come, they don’t allow them to come and see what people are passing through.

    “These are Nigerians with skills and graduates in numbers; people with futures, fathers, and vibrant youth. But this is the situation we find ourselves. Please, Nigerians, corporate bodies, individuals help us.”

  • FG to fly home stranded Nigerians in Libya

    FG to fly home stranded Nigerians in Libya

    President Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigerian migrants stranded in Libya and elsewhere would be brought home.

    Buhari, who spoke on the sidelines of the ongoing African Union-European Union Summit in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, vowed to do everything possible to prevent more Nigerians from making the perilous journey to Europe.

    The President spoke after the emergence of footage showing migrants being sold at slave auctions in Libya.

    He said the migrants were being treated like goats.

    The United Nations- backed authorities in Libya had said they were increasing repatriation flights from the North African nation.

    About 240 Nigerians were voluntarily flown home in a joint operation by Libya and the UN migrant agency on Tuesday night.

    The plight of those trapped in Libya – a major hub for migrants attempting to reach Europe – was highlighted by the footage published by CNN.

    The footage showed young men being auctioned for farm work in Libya.

    The issue of people attempting to enter Europe illegally was already expected to be high on the agenda of this week’s summit in Abidjan, the BBC reports.

    “Some Nigerians [in the footage] were being sold like goats for few dollars in Libya,” Buhari said during the address to the Nigerian diaspora on Tuesday, before lashing out at Libya.

    ”After 43 years of [Col Muammar] Gaddafi, why are they recruiting so many people from the Sahel including Nigerians?

    “All they learned was how to shoot and kill. They didn’t learn to be electricians, plumbers or any other trade.”

    He promised those who returned would be “rehabilitated” and vowed to tackle corruption, defeat terror groups like Boko Haram and improve like education to stop Nigerians leaving in the first place.

    “For people to cross the Sahara desert and Mediterranean through shanty boats, we will try and keep them at home,” he said.

     

  • 500 Nigerians to be deported from Libya – NAPTIP

    At least 500 Nigerians would be deported from Libya on Thursday and next Tuesday, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic In Person (NAPTIP) has said.

    NAPTIP’s Director-General, Julie Okah-Donli, stated this during her maiden visit to Lagos Zonal Command in Ikeja.

    She said 250 would arrive the country on Thursday and the other 250 by Tuesday.

    Okah-Donli, who declared war against human traffickers and organisations representing them, said a template would be released soon and any organisation that refused to comply with same would be sanctioned.

    According to her, NAPTIP was on the verge of releasing its “name and shame” policy, to expose those behind human trafficking to the world.

    The NAPTIP boss said the agency has recorded modest achievements since inception in 2003, adding that a total of 4,755 cases were received; 10,685 victims rescued and supported, and 323 convictions secured.

    She said: “However, the trend of deportation of Nigerians from different parts of the world, especially in Africa in recent times is frightening and must be changed.

    “For instance, between February and April, no fewer than 1,134 Nigerians were deported from different parts of the world for various offences. Out of the number, 905 were deported from Libya in five batches. As if that was not enough, we are expecting 250 on Thursday and another 250 persons next week, all from Libya. This number does not include the over 5,000, mainly victims of human trafficking in Mali, awaiting evacuation back home.

    “In the last few days, I have interacted with various stakeholders and we have discovered that many people are still living in ignorance of the presence of this modern day slavery in our midst and the need to join hands to fight it.

    “We have also seen the haphazard manner with which various stakeholders are battling it without the required synergy. In the next few months, NAPTIP would come up with a template to ensure comprehensive synergy amongst all stakeholders. We will not impose this template on the stakeholders but will hold discussions on it and anyone who runs foul afterwards, would face necessary sanctions.”

  • FG to evacuate more Nigerians from Libya

    The Deputy Director, Search and Rescue Unit, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Dr. Bandele Onimode, has said the Federal Government will evacuate another set of Nigerians from Libya in February.

    Onimode disclosed this when he led a delegation from NEMA to visit the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The delegation had come to shed light on NEMA efforts in the rescue operations in Libya and other countries of the world and what the Federal Government has been doing to secure the lives of Nigerians trapped on transit.

    He said the Federal Government has been doing a lot to help Nigerian citizens wherever they are having problems not just in Libya alone.

    “It is a well-known fact that Nigerians do cross the desert to Europe through Niger Republic, Mali, and Sudan and in the process some are tired, stranded and trapped.

    “Our Nigerian missions abroad never leave them alone. They always come to their rescue. As I am talking to you there are still some of them that are stranded in Niger and we are working on that.

    “But the one that caught the attention in recent time is the issue of Nigerians trying to get to Europe through Libya. There is need to set the record straight on what the government has been doing,” he said.

    He said Federal Government had already evacuated about 1,000 voluntary returnees from Libya between 2015 and 2016.

  • 241 Nigerians ‘brought back’ from Libya

    241 Nigerians living in Libya were on Tuesday brought back to the country by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

    The returnees arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, aboard a chartered aircraft operated by Libyan Airlines with registration number 5A-LAR.

    They were documented on arrival at the cargo wing of the airport by officials of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

    According to an official of IOM, the returnees include 17 males, 67 females, six children and three infants.

    The official said the Nigerians opted to return home because of the harsh conditions they experienced in their bid to travel to Europe.