Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Libyan rebels hold 200 Nigerians hostage.


More violence
against migrants
The crackdown on Nigerians
in Libya continued yesterday,
with the arrest of 25 by the
rebel-controlled Transitional
National Council (TNC), which
has slackened Col. Muammar
Gaddafi’s 42-year grip on
power.
The development has brought
the number of Nigerians in
detention to over 200, The
Nation learnt. There are fears
that the detained Nigerians
may be killed by the rebels, if
the Federal Government does
not act on time.
A spokesman for trapped
Nigerians in Tripoli, Mr.
Daramola Siji, who spoke with
our correspondent on the
telephone, said: “About 25
Nigerians were today arrested
in Tripoli and they are being
detained in Salahdin part of
the capital city. We have no
access to them at all.
“So far, we have over 200
Nigerians being detained in
various parts of Libya. We do
not know their fate. We are
praying that they will not be
killed like other black migrant
workers.
“The general pattern is that
the rebels mount roadblocks
and everytime black people
are sighted in a bus, they will
quickly arrest them and
hound them into various cells
in the city.”
Asked how Nigerians fell into
rebels’ hands, Siji said:
“Having been without food,
they decided to venture out of
their homes to look for what
to buy and, in the process,
most of them were arrested.
“I wish to appeal to the
Federal Government to take
action. We could not reach the
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru, who
has been sympathetic to our
plight, with the opening up of
talks with the TNC leaders.
“Although the Minister
designated our Ambassador
to Ethiopia to take charge of
the situation in Libya, the
envoy has remained
incommunicado.”
Responding to a question, Siji
said: “The rebels felt the black
migrants were the
mercenaries used by
Muammar Gaddafi to fight
them and that is why they are
embarking on retaliatory
killings.
“But we have made the TNC to
realise that the mercenaries
used by Gaddafi were mostly
Chadians and Nigeriens. No
Nigerian fought on the side of
Gaddafi.”
A top source in the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, who spoke in
confidence, said: “The Minister
is away in Sweden for Nordic
Ministers meeting. But he is
on top of the situation, even
from his base abroad.
“We have got assurances from
the TNC, Britain and France
that black migrants will no longer be attacked.”
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