Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja
The federal government has constituted a ministerial committee to unravel the circumstances which led to the death of 26 teenage Nigerian migrant girls in the Mediterranean early this month.
A presidential source made this disclosure last night in reaction to allegations that the Nigerian government was indifferent to the mysterious death of the girls perceived to have drowned in the sea.
According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been following the issue since it became public knowledge and equally updates the presidency on the matter on a regular basis.
The source also said the committee has the responsibility to study reports on the alleged sale of some Nigerian citizens into slavery and report its findings to the Federal Executive Council next week.
The committee is chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami.
Other members of the committee are the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geofrey Onyema, Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora Matters, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
Malam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, confirm the constitution of the committee to journalists.
The funeral of the 26 female migrants who died at the Mediterranean sea held on Friday in Naples, Italy.
Italian prosecutors say they are investigating the deaths of women – most of them teenagers – whose bodies were recovered at sea on November 6.
Investigators suspect that the women, aged 14 to 18 years, were sexually abused and subsequently murdered while trying to cross the Mediterranean.
