Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Honourable Tolu Akande-Sadipe, has alleged that the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs is surreptitiously working to release a Lebanese human trafficker, Wafic Mohammed Hamze.
Speaking at the House plenary on Thursday, she said the ministry, under the guise of diplomacy, wanted to release Hamze who was apprehended by National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for alleged complicit in the trafficking of 16 girls to Lebanon.
“Records show that Wafic Hamze 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,” she said.
She also disclosed that about 80,000 Nigerians are currently held as sex slaves and are in forced labour across the world, in countries like Lebanon, Mali and across the Middle East.
Akande-Sadipe condemned the alleged complacency of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Employment, which she said subjected young Nigerian girls to modern-day slavery, sexual exploitation and organ harvesting, among other ills.
She decried the unprecedented rise in the abuse and dehumanisation of Nigerians abroad, especially in nations with long history of cordial relationship with Nigeria.
“The current and ongoing sordid dehumanising treatments foisted on Nigerians abroad particularly trafficked girls under the cover of foreign domestic staff has become very disturbing.
“According to the 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.
Raising a motion on a matter of urgent public importance, the lawmaker said there was a pressing need for parliamentary intervention in the eradication of trafficking in persons, the resultant dehumanising treatment of Nigerians abroad and the repatriation of our stranded citizens.
She also noted that there were some Nigerian students in Turkey, who wanted to return home but cannot afford the cost of the evacuation flight and, as a result, were stranded, experiencing undue hardship in the country.
She therefore urged the House to compel the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to negotiate affordable evacuation flights for Nigerians in the diaspora
She further prayed that the House should mandate the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Labour and Employment, Nigerian Immigration Service and the NAPTIP to initiate the process of preparing a Bilateral Labour Agreement and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for recruitment of Nigerians for unskilled labour employment in foreign lands.
Akande-Sadipe implored President Muhammed Buhari to mete necessary disciplinary measure on the Minister and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment for allegedly violating the suspension on the issuance of international recruiters licenses and issuance of licenses to non-compliant companies.
She said despite that the affected companies were in violation of the procurement and service provision procedures and standard requirements, they were excused from the mandatory annual reporting requirements on location and conditions of service of each recruited Nigerian taken abroad.
Akande-Sadipe noted that the Ministry obstructed the House’s Committee on Diaspora in its attempt to carry out its official mandate by its refusal to submit documentation and lying under oath.
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