Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central) has raised alarm over the plight of Nigerian women trafficked to Libya, revealing that many of them are giving birth to children while detained in Libyan prisons.
Speaking during Senate plenary yesterday, Akpoti-Uduaghan urged the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Nigerian Correctional Service to collaborate with Libyan authorities to facilitate the repatriation of these women and their children.
The senator made the call while contributing to a motion sponsored by Senator Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom East) on the “urgent need to protect Nigerians from trafficking, slavery, and human rights abuses in Libya.”
“Numerous Nigerian women who were sex-trafficked to Libya and managed to escape unbearable and inhumane conditions were later arrested and imprisoned,” Akpoti-Uduaghan said.
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“Within the prisons, they are reportedly subjected to sexual exploitation by prison warders and officials. Many of these women have become pregnant and have given birth, with their children now living behind bars with them.”
She appealed to her colleagues to support measures that would ensure the safe return of the affected women and their children to Nigeria.
“I urge the chambers to approve this motion so that these innocent children of Nigerian heritage do not continue to suffer alongside their mothers,” she added.
The Senate is expected to take further action following the deliberations on the motion.
