It is obvious that authorities in Nigeria can no longer close their eyes to the ugly reports about its citizens in Libya. The federal government has begun to speed up the repatriation of its citizens from Libya which has been accused of exploiting and ill-treating migrants.
The Nigerian Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, told reporters in Abuja last week that Nigeria was chartering two aircraft to repatriate over the next few days 800 of its citizens who wanted to go home. Mr. Onyeama said he had visited two migrant detention centres in Libya and met some compatriots.
“The reality is that a large number of these Nigerians here have suffered greatly and have gone through an extreme traumatic experience,” the Minister said. “The main objective is to get these Nigerians back home as quickly as possible.”
Mr. Onyeama admitted there had been difficulties in identifying the number of Nigerians in Libya, as many were undocumented or in detention centres not controlled by the authorities. Nigeria had already pledged to repatriate 250 migrants a week, following reports on a slave trade targeting illegal migrants from West Africa in Libya.
Nigerians make up the majority of undocumented migrants trying to make the treacherous crossing from Libya via the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
Almost 1,300 Nigerian migrants were brought home from Libya last November — nearly twice as many as in the previous month, the head of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, has said.
