Dabiri-Erewa: Death of 26 Nigerian Girls in Mediterranean Sea Tragic, Avoidable

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Tuesday, November 7th, 2017

ABUJA, NIGERIA (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has described the deaths of 26 Nigerians who got drowned in Mediterranean sea as “most unfortunate and tragic”.

The Presidential aide described the deaths of the young Nigerians, as avoidable and preventable.

In a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja by her Special Assistant on Media, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, she lamented for the umpteenth time that promising young Nigerians embarking on such dangerous journeys, in search of greener pastures, have ended up faced rather with hopelessness, torture, despair and sometimes death.

“It is tragic and lamentable. It is just not worth it ultimately. There has to be sustained awareness campaigns on the dangers inherent in such journeys. Migration policies are getting tougher all over. “.

Dabiri-Erewa said that President Muhammadu Buhari has been working with the International Organization of Migration (IOM), to bring back voluntary returnees, adding that “even if survived, it is not usually greener out there”.

She therefore appealed to the Italian authorities to ensure thorough investigations into the deaths and reiterated her appeals to Nigerians to desist from such dangerous journeys.

Regrettably, such trips are usually paid for, sometimes as high as $4,500 dollars as inhumane traffickers profit from the illicit business, luring the victims who ignorantly fall for the apparently fake lure of a better life out there.

The boats now being used are getting smaller and more dangerous, while those on the other side are not particularly willing to save them from drowning any more.

No fewer than 26 Nigerians were reportedly got drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday.

It was alleged that the Nigerians were sexually abused and murdered at the sea.