Detention of Nigerians in Libya Worries Group

Kayode Fasua

As another batch of 161 Nigerian migrantreturnees recently arrived Lagos under the EU-IOM joint initiative on migrant protection and reintegration, a group, Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria (MEPN) has renewed its call on the federal government to mount pressure on the Libyan authorities to set free thousands of Nigerians in various detention camps in that country.

A recent report of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) however, indicated that no fewer than 10,000 Nigerians had been repatriated from Libya between April 2017 and October this year.

The MEPN, in a statement by its Co-Project Directors, Kenneth Gbandi and Femi Awoniyi, congratulated the returnees for their safe return, even as it praised the efforts of the Federal Government, the European Union (EU) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for the humanitarian repatriation programme.

But it nonetheless demurred, stating, “The MEPN would like to use this opportunity to note that thousands of Nigerians may still be stranded in Libya and other transit countries.

“The case of a group of recent Nigerian returnees who were held captive inside a government-run detention centre in the Libyan town of Zawiya indicates that many Nigerians could still be in forcible custody in the North African country.

“A video recording made by one of the migrants and sent to the international media in July 2018 led to IOM’s efforts that freed the Nigerians, who have since returned home.”

The MEPN added that it believed that many Nigerians could still be held in Libya, not only in official detention centres but also in camps run by smuggling gangs and militias.

It, therefore, called on the federal government to demand from Tripoli, a list of Nigerians being detained in its facilities, and release them immediately so that they can return home.