Julie Okah-Donli, the director general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has revealed that over 25,000 Nigerians were held in slave camps in Lybia.
Okah-Donli reportedly said this during the defence of the agency’s 2018 budget before the Senate committee on judiciary, human rights and legal matters on Tuesday, December 19.
According to her, the figure shows that about 5000 of the victims were repatriated within the period.
"A large number of Nigerians have also been returned from other countries in Europe and Africa.
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"All these people need to be properly received, profiled and assisted.
”NAPTIP has been working in conjunction with other governmental and non governmental agencies such as NEMA, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and others to provide help to these unfortunate Nigerians,” she said as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
She noted that much attention had not been accorded to the evils of human trafficking adding that the recent trend which marking the resurgence of slave trade requires serious attention.
She said the task before the agency is huge while budgetary allocations have been comparatively low.
She said: It is my honour and privilege to raise a cry for help in this hallowed chamber on behalf of the most vulnerable members of the society, especially women and children.
"In recent months the odious and perverse consequences of human trafficking and irregular migration were forcefully brought to our television screens with gory tales."
She mentioned massive public awareness behavourial change campaigns as two things that must be sustained from the grassroots to the national level if this must be stopped.
For the returnees, she said they needed to undergo skills acquisition training or formal education.
She commended the federal government and other stakeholders for their support in the wake of recent slave trade of Africans.
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She said: "I wish to place on record my deep appreciation to President Muhammad Buhari for consistently putting the issue of human trafficking at the centre of global discourse at various international fora.
”In the aftermath of the recent crisis stemming from the inhuman treatment of Nigerians in Libya and elsewhere, both the presidency and National Assembly came out strongly with statements band actions to to strengthen national response to irregular migration.”
NAIJ.com earlier reported how the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) recently received 167 stranded Nigerians from Libya.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with Registration Number 5A-DMH, arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 7:47pm.
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Source: Naija.ng
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Wednesday, 20 December 2017