Senate asks FG to protect Nigerians from Libya slave trade

The senate on Wednesday charged the federal government to save Nigerians from slave auctions in Libya.

Senate President Bukola Saraki described the Libya slave trade reports as a slap in the face of Nigerians.

Saraki said this after Kaka Baba Bashir, senator representing Borno central, had sponsored a motion on the urgent need to protect Nigerian citizens from being sold into slavery.

The senate president wondered why the country had not do anything about the situation.

“Libya slave trade is a slap on us all if a state like Cote D’Ivoire is taking step to address this act while we have not done so,” he said.

While moving the motion, Bashir had described the slave trade as a “sickening crime against humanity,” wondering why Nigeria is “indifferent” despite being one of the most affected countries.

He said: “This is a 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.

“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 country.”

President Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigerians trapped in Libya will be evacuated once they are identified.