Says black immigrants being killed in Libya
obi Soniyi in Abuja
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has called on Nigerian migrants to avoid Libya because penalty for illegal migration to Libya, when caught, is a death sentence.
In a statement she issued yesterday, the SSA to the president said the attention of her office was drawn to a video and pictures being circulated on the purported killing of black immigrants in Libya.
She said: “While the authenticity of the pictures and tapes in question cannot be verified, it is a known fact that Libya has been executing alleged black illegal immigrants for years.”
Dabiri-Erewa said that as the Chairman Committee on Diaspora in the House of Representatives in the Seventh Assembly, she intervened in the case of 24 Nigerians about to be killed in Libya.
She said the committee, working in conjunction with the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) petitioned the United Nations, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and that the late Libyan leader Ghadaffi yielded to pressure and released them.
According to her, two months ago, NEMA alongside, the Nigerian Embassy in Libya evacuated over 2000 Nigerians from Libya.
She said: “The Nigerian embassy in Libya, working with NEMA has relentlessly intervened in cases involving Nigerians in trouble in Libya and will continue to do so.
“Libyans are dealing with their own struggles as there is no recognised government in place.”
