The Senate on Wednesday called on the Federal Government to urgently investigate the number of Nigerians affected in the Libyan slavery auctions.
The Senate also asked the government to immediately commence the process of repatriation and rehabilitation of Nigerians caught up in the despicable treatment and human rights abuses in Libya.
The Upper Chamber condemned in totality the current depravity and sheer animalism being exhibited by Libyans selling follow Africans as slaves resolved that the government should take all diplomatic steps to ensure that everyone involved in the inhuman act is held accountable to face the full weight of international law and justice.
It urged President Muhammadu Buhari to leverage on the ongoing EU/AU session in Abidjan to seek special discussion on illegal migration in Africa.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion on “Urgent need to protect Nigerian citizens from the Libyan slavery auctions” raised by Senator Baba Kaka Garbai (Borno Central).
Garbai in his lead debate noted with dismay the report of slave markets at various locations in Libya, where Africans and mostly Nigerians are auctioned as slaves, priced as merchandise and sold off like animals.
The lawmaker said that he was sickened to observe a video available on You Tube which had brought about a global outrage witnessed the sale of 12 Nigerians for prices as ridiculous as $400 to $800.
He noted with concern that the stone-age, inhuman and barbaric act is going on in the 21 century.
Garbai acknowledged the on-going global outcry against the crime, several protests in mostly European countries such as Paris and Brussels while “we who are the most affected as these are our children, our brothers and sisters, our youths, are indifferent.”