National
Rep Chides Foreign Affairs Ministry For Shielding Lebanese Trafficker
The Chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Tolu Akande-Sadipe K has said that about 80,000 Nigerians are currently held as sex slaves and in forced labour across the world, in countries like Lebanon, Mali and across the Middle East.
Akande Sadipe who said this during plenary session on Thursday in Abuja, condemned the complacency of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Employment, which has subjected young Nigerian girls to modern-day slavery, sexual exploitation and organ harvesting among other ills.
Mrs. Sadipe also noted that the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under the guise of diplomacy is working towards the release a Lebanese trafficker, Wafic Mohammed Hamze, apprehended by National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons who is complicit in the trafficking of sixteen girls to Lebanon.
Records show that Wafic Hamza was complicit in the trafficking of 16 girls, 10 of which have been repatriated back to Nigeria whilst 6 remain stranded in Lebanon.
She said, “Records show that Wafic Hamza was complicit in the trafficking of 16 girls, 10 of which have been repatriated back to Nigeria whilst 6 remain stranded in Lebanon. Hamze is currently in custody in Ilorin, Kwara State awaiting trial for trafficking but it appears that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the guise of diplomacy is working for the release of the said trafficker, without any regard for our citizens losses, their repatriation back home and compensation”.
In addition, Hon. Sadipe decried the unprecedented rise in the abuse and dehumanization of Nigerians abroad, especially in nations with long history of cordial relationship with Nigeria.
“The current and ongoing sordid dehumanizing treatments foisted on Nigerians abroad particularly trafficked girls under the cover of foreign domestic staff has become very disturbing. According to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), in the past one year, there has been an alarming number of daily distress calls from Nigerian women crying to be rescued due to the inhumane conditions they face in various parts of the Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Oman and Lebanon and Mali (with Lebanon, Oman and Mali being top on the list)”, she said.
In the motion she raised as a matter of Urgent Public importance, Hon. Tolu Akande-Sadipe opined that there is a pressing need for Parliamentary intervention in the eradication of trafficking in Persons, the resultant dehumanizing treatment of Nigerians abroad and the repatriation of our stranded citizens.
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