THE LIBYA KILLINGS AND FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN. By Tunde Akanbi
Date: 2017-01-27
When the pictures went viral on the social media, some see it as real while others watch the video as the usual social media fabrication.
But not until the Nigerian Government reacted through the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri- Erewa before it was done on most Nigerians and even Africans at large that the public executions in Libya of innocent immigrants including Nigerians were really man's inhumanity against man.
People referred to by the Libyan authorities as illegal immigrants were lined up and rounded up in their large numbers and slaughtered like animals while others were sprayed with bullets.
This is happening in Libya,the soil of Africa where it is believed that we have a government in place and organizations such as the African Union,the ECOWAS and even the United Nations.
Just recently after the tragic bloody video clip went viral, the Federal Government and the Committee on Diaspora issued a statement appealing to Nigerian immigrants to avoid Libya as penalty for illegal migration to Libya when caught, is usually death sentence.
According to the statement, the authenticity of the public execution pictures and tapes in question cannot yet be verified, but it's a known fact that Libya has been executing alleged black illegal immigrants for years.
Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa confirmed that Nigeria has been on the matter of brutal execution since she was in the House of Representatives and that she even used her office then to get some Nigerians who were about to be killed back to Nigeria.
The question now is that how can fellow human being be murdered in cold blood for being an illegal alien?
The action of the Libyan government negates the concept of African brotherhood of being our brothers keepers, a development which should be condemned in all its ramifications.
In his reaction to this animalistic character, a renowned journalist, Former Minister of Sports and presently the Spokesman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Mallam BOLAJI Abdullahi after interacting with Mrs Abike Dabire-Erewa on the development , concluded that Libya presently has no government. The country has no law and order and no one to talk to.
The APC spokesman recalled that when Mamman Gadaffi was in power, he still listened.
Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said Libyans are presently dealing with their own struggles and they have not been responsive at all .
He however, cautioned that if one knows any Nigerian living there or who plans to, especially those who can trek to Europe through the desert, such person be dissuaded from travelling to Libya.
Also reacting to the sad development recently in Abuja, the Deputy Director of Search and Rescue in the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Doctor Bandele Onimode disclosed that the Federal Government has put machinery in motion to evacuate another set of Nigerian citizens trapped in Libya hoping that when brought back home, they would not retrace their steps back to the lions den.
It was once published some years back that over three hundred Nigerian illegal immigrants were killed in Libya while several others were deported after they were dehumanized. How long shall this man's inhumanity to man continue unchecked and unabated in Libya?
One of the illegally arrested Nigerian immigrants who might have been executed by now except he is lucky was once quoted as saying
that the illegal aliens were arraigned before a court after their arrest while the charges against them were read to them in the language they could not understand and the judicial officers feigned not to understand English which is an act of injustice .
Most concerned Nigerians have expressed disgust over the summary execution of illegal aliens in Libya which they described as barbaric, inhuman and an urgly development in this twenty first century.
Ordinarily , the authorities in Tripoli, the capital of Libya should be happy to see nationals of their sister African countries coming to contribute to their economic development in their nation which is already nose-diving with a high rate of unemployment and political instability .
By the immigration laws, immigrants across all borders should be shown respect and dignity. A human right movement, the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity says every human person is sacred across all borders as all nations must create a truly multi- faith, multi-racial, multi-cultural and inter-generational movement.
As African nation, we must honour the diversity of traditions in our communities and we must be committed to building bridges and creating common ground with all people who practice mutual respect and share a vision of a just world.
It is true that most, if not all countries have laws which designate a process for entering another country while immigration laws refers to national government policies controlling the immigration and deportation of people and other matters such as citizenship but this does not connote cannibalism .
In as much as immigration laws differ from one country to the other, there is no nation, that says illegal immigrants should be lined up and executed out rightly as the case now in Tripoli, Libya.
The Nigerian Government and the National Assembly should rise and save our dear brothers and sisters from further public executions and dehumanization before its too late. Already, some Nigerians and other blacks have fallen into the hands of these cruel and wicked set of heartless people
It's high time that our government and African leaders rise to their responsibilities and provide our jobless youths employment opportunities and a conducive business environment so as to encourage them to stay back home and discourage them from embarking on a deadly mission.
Tunde Akanbi wrote this piece from Ilorin via tundeakanbibabby@yahoo.co.uk