No fewer than 80,000 Nigerians are currently held as sex slaves and in forced labour in countries like Lebanon, Mali and across the Middle East.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Tolu Akande-Sadipe, made this known on Thursday, according to her media aide, Olamilekan Olusada.
Akande-Sadipe who made this known at plenary in Abuja, accused the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Employment, of complacency, a situation she said had subjected young Nigerian girls to modern-day slavery, sexual exploitation and organ harvesting among other ills.
Akande-Sadipe 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 National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (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.
In the motion she raised as a matter of Urgent Public importance, Akande-Sadipe opined that 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.
Akande-Sadipe, also noted that there were some Nigerian students in Turkey, who wanted to return home but could not afford the cost of the evacuation flight, and as a result were stuck in Turkey experiencing undue hardship.
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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Nigerian Immigration Service and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (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.
In addition she implored President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the minister and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment be penalised for allegedly violating its suspension on the issuance of International Recruiters Licenses and issuance of licenses to non-compliant companies.
She stressed that despite that companies were in violation of the federal government 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 accused the ministry of obstructing 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.
