Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has called on Nigerians to report human traffickers in the society as the Federal government's whistleblower policy against Human trafficking will ensure that those that give credible information about human traffickers are handsomely rewarded. Dabiri-Erewa said this while reacting to the libya slave trade business. Speaking to Channels TV, Dabiri-Erewa said
“Traffickers must be prosecuted, must be arrested and they must be known. There is a whistle-blower policy by NAPTIP; report traffickers, they are amongst you'
According to her, the recent slave trade business happening in Libya would not have affected Nigerians if those caught up in it had listened to the advise the Federal government not to travel to that country because of the dangers involved. According to her, her office, NEMA, IOM and other agencies have warned against illegal migration through Libya.
“NEMA, my office, IOM told Nigerians that avoid Libya, it is deadly, it is dangerous, don’t go there. Also on the news, you have cases of Nigerians being brought back from Libya on a regular basis. So Nigeria has been bringing back its citizens from Libya,” she said.
Speaking further, she said “You can imagine the dangerous journey. Walking about 3,000kilometers that’s flying for about three hours if you are going to Europe. This might be attributed to poverty. Yes, the government must do the needful by creating enabling environment and jobs but it goes beyond that. What do you say of a mother who sells her land and pays off $4,000 for her daughter to go to Europe? We should look at the family value and the systems. For every person who goes on that journey, a trafficker is being empowered, a trafficker is getting richer,” she said.
She promised that the Buhari government is working to ensure more youths are gainfully engaged to avoid dangerous expeditions in search of greener pastures.
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