NASS set to probe death of 26 Nigerian girls on Mediterranean Sea

Worried by the reported death of 26 Nigerian girls at the Mediterranean the National Assembly comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the incident leading to their death on board a Spanish warship.

While the Senate has mandated its committees on Diaspora, Foreign Affairs and Special Duties, to investigate the incident and report their findings within four weeks, the House of Representatives has mandated its committees on foreign affairs and human rights to liase with the Libyan embassy to unravel the cause of the death of the Nigerian women.

There have been reports that 26 Nigerians who were sexually molested on board the Spanish warship were later found dead, while some arrests had been made by the Italian authorities.

The death of the Nigerian girls came up during the Plenary through a motion moved by Rose Oko representing Cross River North.

Leading debate on the motion, Oko said emergency measures must be used to address the situation.

She lamented the mass exodus of young boys and girls from Nigeria to Europe and Asia especially Italy and Spain, blaming the problem on widespread unemployment in Nigeria.

She said the Senate was worried about the perils and hazard emigrants from Nigeria usually undergo, travelling through the Sahara and the Mediterranean sea while ultimately dying in the process.

She, however, expressed delight that Italian prosecutors had begun investigation into the death of the Nigerian girls after the arrest of the Egyptian and a Libyan linked to their ordeal.

She said, “The Senate strongly believes that it is time to go beyond the mere feeling of horror to taking proactive, urgent and emergency measures to address the root causes of the exodus, including massive enlightenment on the dangers that it portends.”

The Senator representing Ebonyi, Sam Egwu, called on the Federal and State governments to declare a state of emergency on unemployment to curb re-occurrence of similar tragic incidents that usually involve Nigerians.

He blamed the death of the 26 girls on unemployment, which he described as a recurrent decimal, and a huge source of worry for Nigerians.

He said, “Every year, we turn out graduates that have no jobs to do after their NYSC and enabling environment is not even there to start their businesses. I think the Federal and State governments should declare state of emergency on unemployment and do something tangible.”

In the same vein, Senator Shehu Sani, (Kaduna), described the incident as a “national tragedy” which according to him must urgently be attended to.

He said, “The death of 26 Nigerians in the Mediterranean Sea is a national tragedy.

“It is unfortunate that year in, year out, thousands of Africans, Nigerians perish in the Mediterranean on the way to Europe in search for what they call greener pasture.”

“It is equally worrying that every month, hundreds of Nigerians are brought back to this country after failed attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea and there are factors to this irregular migration.” The Senate, however, observed a minute silence for the repose of the souls of the girls.

In the House of Representatives, the resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion on matters of urgent national importance moved by the House Leader, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila drawing the attention of the House to the death of the 26 Nigerian female migrants.

Leading debate on the motion, Gbajabiamila said there is the need to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the female migrants, who were said to be aged between 18 and 24 years.

According to him, available information indicate that the Nigerian women were among the corpses of 60 persons allegedly traveling in a ship from Libya bound for Italy.

He said that since the incident, nothing has been heard about the other 34 passengers, their identities or the actual cause of death of the Nigerian nationals.

“From my understanding, they were going from Libya to Italy. We were made to understand that there were about 60 persons. No one knows the cause of death. The committees on foreign affairs and human rights to liase with the Libyan embassy, so that we can know what happened,” Gbajabimila added.

Contributing to the debate, Hon Beni Lar said that human trafficking has been a reoccurring issue in the country.
She stated that the menace has cost the country a lot in terms of money and resources.

Hon Lar lamented that although the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) is saddled with the task of combating human trafficking in the country, the agency is poorly funded to discharge its responsibilities.

The lawmaker urged the House to take urgent steps to ensure that NAPTIP is properly funded, so that it can perform optimally.