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The Nigerian government on Monday said it had located some detention camps in Libya where at least 116 Nigerians were allegedly trapped, enslaved, but now willing to return home.
In a statement, presidential adviser on foreign affairs Abike Dabiri-Erewa said the already identified Nigerians would soon be repatriated home by the government, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
According to her, the Nigeria Mission in Tripoli, capital of Libya, had traced the migrants to Osama Detention Center in Zawiya, a district in the northwestern part of Libya.
The 116 Nigerian migrants have been processed online by the Nigeria Mission and IOM for repatriation back to Nigeria, she said.
The detained migrants had pleaded for assistance from the Nigerian government through a video clip from Libya on July 8.
In the video, Dabiri-Erewa said the stranded Nigerians, who veiled their faces, had alleged that they were being tortured daily under a dehumanizing condition.
It was also alleged that some of them had been tortured to death.
The presidential adviser said 24 of the stranded migrants, however, insisted they must get to Europe.
Earlier in the year, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the immediate evacuation of Nigerians from Libya following reports of their dehumanizing conditions in Libya.
So far, a total of 9,438 Nigerian migrants have been repatriated by the government and the IOM, according to government data.
XINHUA
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