THE Initiative for Youth Awareness on Migration,
Immigration, Development and Re-integration, IYAMIDR, yesterday, raised alarm
that over 300 Nigerian girls are languishing in different prisons in Libya.
It called on the Federal Government to exploit the bilateral
pact with the Libyan Government to secure their release.
President of IYAMIDR, Solomon Okoduwa, who briefed newsmen
in Benin City, Edo State on the hardship faced by Nigerians in Libya since the
war in that country, thanked the Founder of All Nation for Christ Synagogue,
Pastor T.B Joshua for assisting hundreds of returnees with cash as
rehabilitation packages, noting the need for the Federal Government to
intervene.
Okoduwa, who fled Libya during the 2011 uprising, said that
the Nigerian girls in Libyan prisons were being asked to pay between $400 and
$600 through agents believed to be working for the Libyan authorities before
they can secure their release.
He urged the Federal Government to review her foreign policy
with a view to ensuring adequate protection of Nigerian Citizens in the
Diaspora.
According to him, “government should as a matter of urgency
expedite action by coming to the aide of her citizen, who are willing to return
to the country. Apart from the girls, who are being Molested every day, we have
700 other Nigerians held by the Libyan maximum prison in the City of Tripoli
while others are in Sabha, and Gharian prison situated about 50kilometers from
the City of Tripoli.”
He noted that in order to discourage Nigerian youths from
traveling illegally to foreign countries, Okoduwa said the group had acquired
17.666 hectares of Oil Palm land located in Ugbogui community in Ovia South
West Local Government Area of Edo State and appealed to government to assist in
ensuring that the youths were equipped with the needed agricultural tools.
A Vanguard report
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