India Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it has appointed 17 coordinators to help Indians leave Libya, Indian External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj said.
“We have appointed 17 coordinators to help Indians leaving Libya.
“Indian Embassy is helping them with Exit Visa even in cases where their visa has expired.
“Presently, the airport is operational. Please avail of this opportunity,’’ Mr Swaraj wrote on Twitter.
Recently, the minister asked Indians in and around Libya’s Tripoli to leave the country immediately as the government of India would later be unable to evacuate them.
Mr Swaraj said in spite of massive evacuation from Libya and the travel ban, there were more than 500 Indian nationals in Tripoli.
Heavy fighting has erupted south of Tripoli after Libya’s UN-backed government announced a counter-offensive against insurgent forces.
Libya has been torn by violence and political instability since long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011.
The 4th batch of Anambra State returnees from Libya have arrived in the state.
The returnees were received by the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) officials at the Port Harcourt Airport through their counterparts from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other security agencies.
The team leader of SEMA, Mr Emmanuel Izuchukwu disclosed to newsmen in Awka on Friday.
He said that government had good plans for them, adding that the returnees would be taken to skills acquisition centre, at Abagana.
One of the returnees, Mr Victor Ndukwe from Awka South Local Government said that he was in prison for about four months, with little or no food, where he faced severe torture.
He described his stay in Libya as being in “second hell’’.
Another returnee, David Eze from Nnewi said he was a businessman dealing in electrical parts before he left for Libya.
He explained that he was misinformed about his prospects in Libya; as his intention was to crossover to Europe through Libya.
Eze in appreciation, thanked the Federal and state governments for saving their lives and prayed that others harbouring intention of travelling through Libya should be discouraged from embarking on such trip.
Nigerian Government has appointed Med-View Airline, through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to participate in the evacuation of 5,037 Nigerians from Libya.
The airline’s executive director, Business Development and Commercial, Isiaq Na’Allah, and Ibrahim Farinloye, the spokesman of NEMA, South-West Zone, confirmed the development in Lagos on Saturday.
The agreement was signed Friday on behalf of the airline by Mr. Na’ Allah, while the Director-General of NEMA, Mustapha Maihaja and Fatima Bukar, a senior legal officer of NEMA, signed on behalf of the agency.
Mr. Na’Allah said in a statement that Med-View Airline would participate in the transportation of the returnees with another carrier to be appointed by the government.
“This kind of responsibility is meant for Nigerian carriers, because it is our responsibility, and we have the capacity to carry out this operation.
“We have demonstrated the capacity that we can do it and we are honoured to have been appointed by the Federal Government through NEMA”, he said.
According to him, Med-View Airline has been in operations for the past 10 years and has successfully carried out Hajj operations within and outside the country.
“I think that was a factor the government considered before we were assigned this national project”, he added.
“We will deliver professionally up to international standard and the government is not making any mistake for entrusting Nigerian carrier to this kind of project.”
A total of 6,806 Nigerians were evacuated from Libya in 2017 through the efforts of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the European Union (EU).
A German army vessel has rescued 102 migrants from the Mediterranean, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
The ministry said the Bundeswehr ship, part of an EU mission dubbed “Sophia,” rescued 84 men, two women, 15 children and a baby from a vessel off the Libyan coast, 25 km north of Tripoli.
The men, women and children were brought to Messina in Sicily, while their vessel sank.
The German military has saved 22,000 people from the Mediterranean since May 2015.
In another development, the Turkish media reported that nearly 70 migrants trying to reach Europe by sea became stranded on a rocky outcrop in the Aegean Sea, and needed rescuing by helicopter.
The state news agency Anadolu reported that four children were among about 68 migrants, who had tried to reach the Greek islands from Turkey in an inflatable boat.
The failed migrants were taken by helicopter back to the Turkish mainland, where some three million Syrians are living after fleeing conflict in their homeland.
The land route across the Balkans and the sea route across the Mediterranean are the two main methods used by undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers who are attempting to reach Europe.
The United Nations has finally reacted to alleged slave trade in Libya which has sparked backlash across the world.
The United Nations Security Council condemned reports of the human slave trade in Libya on Thursday, describing the acts as “heinous abuses of human rights.”
Amb. Koro Bessho of Japan, Council President for the 15-member body in a statement said “The Security Council expresses grave concern about reports of migrants being sold into slavery in Libya,”
“The Security Council condemns such actions as heinous abuses of human rights which may also amount to crimes against humanity. The Security Council calls upon all relevant authorities to investigate such activities without delay to bring the perpetrators to justice and hold those responsible to account.
“The Security Council further underlines the need for coordination of efforts to tackle the root causes of large movements of people, including forced displacement, unmanaged migration and trafficking in persons, in a comprehensive and holistic manner, to prevent exploitation of refugees and migrants by smugglers and human traffickers, as well as for implementation of the 2030 agenda.”
The statement, read by Japanese Ambassador to the UN Koro Bessho, comes weeks after undercover CNN reported auction outside Libya’s capital of Tripoli, which spurred reactions in Africa and in Europe, and led to protests outside the Libyan Embassy in Paris.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres horrified by the reports called for justice, describing the reports as appalling
“I abhor these appalling acts and call upon all competent authorities to investigate these activities without delay and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“I have asked the relevant United Nations actors to actively pursue this matter,” Guterres said.
Reno Omokri, former Presidential aide, has accused ex-United States president, Barack Obama of being responsible for the alleged ongoing slave trade in Libya.
Omokri also alleged that Obama staged the removal of former Libyan President, Muammar Gaddafi from power.
The former Special Adviser on New Media to Jonathan said before Obama staged Gaddafi’s removal, the late Libyan ruler was sympathetic to the plight of Africans.
In a post on his Facebook page, the US-based cleric noted that slave trade started after Gaddafi was ousted, adding that the late president wouldn’t have allowed such action.
The post reads, “When Gaddafi was in power, there was no slave trade of Black Africans in Libya. As a matter of fact, Gaddafi gave financial aid to Black African nations and almost single handedly funded the fight against White minority rule in the then Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe) and against apartheid in South Africa (Google it. Even Mandela said so openly in America).
“Barack Obama staged his removal and now Black Africans are being sold in Libya and you think Obama is good and Gaddafi was bad?
“All over Africa, from Libya, to Egypt, to Nigeria, Obama intervened without caring what Africans really wanted and saddled us with incompetent regimes that are taking Africans backward. History will not be kind to Obama!”
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday spoke on the migrant situation involving Nigerian citizens in Libya and other countries.
In a video posted on his official twitter handle, Osinbajo promised that agencies have been put on their heels to ensure that migration is stopped
According to him, the pursuit of greener pastures and misinformation led many young men on this futile journey
He said: “The @MBuhari administration recognizes the seriousness of the situation, and we are taking steps to decisively address it.
“Ministry of foreign affairs,NEMA,NAPTIP, NCFRMI, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders are collaborating.
“We would also take step to ensure that circumstances surrounding migration are not repeated.
“Most Nigerians try to cross dangerous water bodies and exposed to inhumane condition due to lack of information.
“Most of them are misinformed that life out there is rosy, they offer money to people who use them for illegal purpose
“We have to sensitize young Nigerians to ensure young people don’t go on ill advised escapades
“We will be working with agencies on more to be done that would be effective and last for a period of longtime.”
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