Libya slave auction is a slap on us, says SP

The Nigerian Senate has condemned the sale of Nigerians at various slave trade markets in Libya.

The decision of the Senate was sequel to a motion by Senator Baba Kaka Gabari (Borno south) on the urgent need to protect Nigerians citizens from the Libya Slavery Auctions.

Gabari noted with dismay the latest report being aired on of slave markets at various locations across Libya where Africans and mostly Nigerians “are auctioned as slaves, priced as merchandise and sold off like animals,”

According to report by CNN, Africans were sold for as little $400.

His words: “The Senate notes the report of a survivor that they are being kept in unsanitary conditions, made to endure regular beatings, forced into labour in the fields with little or no food and some are killed in the process,”

“It was total hell in Libya. For the Arabs (Libyan jailers), black-skinned men are nothing but animals and animals were not treated better. People who want slaves come to buy us and if you resist, they shoot at you’ a survivour said in the video.”

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The lawmaker expressed displeasure over the humiliation not just to Nigeria and Africa as a whole but also to human civilization and the fundamental principles of human rights under the United Nations Charter.

“About 4,000 Nigerians were intercepted when they were about to enter the Mediterranean Sea and deported from Libya. The Libyan immigration authority informed the CNN that of an estimated 25,500 migrants, 4,000 are from Nigeria, and are being held at various detention centres in the country.

“There is an art-going global outcry against this sickening crime against humanity, several protests in mostly European countries such as Paris and Brussels whilst we who are the most affected as these are our children, our brothers and sisters, our youths, are indifferent,” Gabari added.

The lawmaker further expressed worry over the failure of the Libyan government to contain the matter.

“The report by Libyan officials that its detention centres are full and they have only deported five percent of the 20,000 in the detention centres because of lack of response from the home governments of the migrants;

“It is worrisome that the Libyan government does not have the means nor the commitment to crack down on the perpetrators as their hands are full. Hence these smuggling networks are killing, torturing, extorting and detaining migrants at will

“Other African Countries such as Ivory Coast have taken active steps to protect their people from these despicable acts and bring them back to their home countries,” he said.

In his remarks, Senate President Bukola Saraki described the slow response of the Nigerian government to the matter as a slap on the faces of all Nigerians.

"As a country it is a slap in the face if Nigerians can be treated in this manner," Saraki said.

"Other countries are taking necessary actions to bring back their citizens from that troubled country. We need to be doing similar things. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must immediately summon the Libyan Ambassador here in Nigeria to explain what is happening, so that we can bring an end to this situation,” he added.

The Senate urged the federal government to urgently investigate how many Nigerians have been affected.

The upper legislative chamber also called on the federal government to urgently commence the process of repatriation and rehabilitation of Nigerian citizens caught up in this despicable treatment and human rights abuses;

The Senate further advised the federal government to take all diplomatic steps to ensure that everyone involved is held accountable to face the full weight of international law and justice.