THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the repatriation of 115 Nigerian victims of human trafficking from Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
This was contained in a statement issued on Saturday, May 10, by the ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa.
“The Ministry wishes to inform that one hundred and fifteen (115) Nigerian nationals that are victims of trafficking will be repatriated from Abidjan, Ivory Coast to Nigeria today via a special flight operated by Air Peace at no cost to the Nigerian Government.”
The statement disclosed that the returnees would arrive in Lagos State via a special flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
The ICIR reports that this development followed a pledge by the chairman of the Air Peace Group, Allen Onyema, to repatriate underage girls trafficked to Ivory Coast at no cost.
In a statement on the company’s X account on April 24, Onyema urged collective action to combat trafficking, highlighting its inhumane and ungodly nature.
“We, at Air Peace, are ready to bring our fellow citizens back home free of charge,” part of the statement read.
It added, “Besides that, we will send all of them to Duchess International Hospital in Ikeja for free medical examination and treatment.
“While we implore the Nigerian Embassy in Cote D’Ivoire to assemble them and reach out to us, we equally call on the Federal Government to take charge of their education while reuniting them with their families.”
He urged citizens to reject all forms of trafficking, and described the practice as inhumane, callous, ungodly and an alarming reflection of man’s inhumanity to man.
The ICIR reported that the Federal Government repatriated about 231 young Nigerians who were trafficked to Ghana last month.
Ghanaian authorities said the people were victims of a human trafficking syndicate that had coerced them into cybercrime activities.
The victims were discovered after they were confined in about 25 rooms within a residential estate in Accra, Ghana’s capital.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.