300 Nigerian girls languishing in Libyan prisons....Report

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 raped 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.