#LibyaSlaveTrade: 144 Nigerians Arrive In Lagos
One of the returnees, Godsent Jatto, from Edo State, said he had a harrowing experience in Libya after being sold into slavery by fellow Nigerians.
The latest returnees from Libya, 144 of them, touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos around 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Nigerians voluntarily returned home aboard a chartered Buraq Airlines aircraft with registration number 5A-DMG.
The number of the latest returnees is made up of 97 males, 39 females, two children and six infants.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, commended the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the European Union (EU) for their contribution in bringing back the citizens.
One of the returnees, Godsent Jatto, from Edo State, said he had a harrowing experience in Libya after being sold into slavery by fellow Nigerians.
“I am so happy coming back to Nigeria. I will never dream in my life to pass through Kano to Libya again,” he told the News Agency of Nigeria.
Jatto said it was sad that some Nigerians also lured their fellow brothers to Libya only to sell them to some Arabs who will then begin to call the Nigerians’ families in the village demanding for money for them to be released.
According to him, traffickers usually lie to people back in Nigeria that their relatives have crossed to Europe whereas some of them have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.
“My advice to Nigerians that still want to embark on this journey is that they should not try it. Keep doing anything you are doing here because your country is your country,” he said.
