House mandates Foreign Ministry to rescue Nigerians detained in Libya
The Nigerian Government will soon set machinery in motion to rescue its nationals languishing in Libyan prisons.
To this end, the House of Representatives on Thursday resolved to rescue Miss Faridah Abdulsamiu, a Nigerian in detention in Libya, and others imprisoned in that country.
At plenary, the House directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, to “set in motion the necessary steps to identify and trace all Nigerians, including Miss Faridah Abdulsamiu, detained or held in captivity in various detention centers in Libya, with a view to securing their immediate release from detention.”
The House also directed all government agencies, including the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, to work with other government and non-governmental agencies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, to trace and secure the immediate release of all Nigerian detainees in Libya.
The House also mandated the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Diaspora to ensure compliance with the resolutions and report back to the House in two weeks.
A member, Mr Abdulganiyu Olododo-Cook, had in a motion at plenary on Thursday, cried out that thousands of Nigerians including Abdulsamiu, a member of his constituency, are “held captives, detained and languishing in different detention camps across the cities of Libya.”
He said Abdulsamiu and some other Nigerian detainees were being detained in Kuliyatul Juwiya, Misurata, Libya, since 2016 but were later moved to Tripoli early this year.
The lawmaker added that Abdulsamiu and some other Nigerian detainees in Libya are kept under “extremely inhumane conditions thereby exposing them to various degrees of hazard, which sometimes led to death or permanent bodily injury.”
“The House is worried that these Nigerian detainees, including Miss Faridah Abdulsamiu, in Libya, feel dejected and abandoned by Nigerian government as their cries for help seem not to have been heard by the government.
“Notwithstanding the efforts of the Federal Government through its various agencies to release the Nigerian detainees in Libya, there are still thousands of Nigerians, including Miss Faridah Abdulsamiu, stranded in various detention camps in Libya.
“The House is informed that unless systemic and drastic steps are taken to identify and trace all Nigerians detainees in Libya, with a view to securing their release, these Nigerians, including Miss Faridah Abdulsamiu, may be held in captivity forever in Libya,” he said.
