Nigerians, Other Black Africans Continue To Suffer In Libya

Even after the all the publicity given to the reported killing of Black Africans especially Nigerians by Libyan rebels, both the Libyan rebels TNC and The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru denied the claims saying that Nigerians in Libya are not being killed instead only Nigeriens and Malians had been attacked.

However reports have however continued to pour in suggesting that Nigerians are indeed being maltreated, abused and killed by the Libyan rebels. Speaking about the welfare of Nigerians in Libya, Daramola Siji, spokesman for trapped Nigerians in Tripoli said “So far, we have over 200 Nigerians being detained in various parts of Libya. We do not know their fate. We are praying that they will not be killed like other black migrant workers. The general pattern is that the rebels mount roadblocks and everytime black people are sighted in a bus, they will quickly arrest them and hound them into various cells in the city.”

African women in the refugee camp, just some six miles West of Tripoli have related horrific experiences they suffer at the hands of the Rebels especially at night. Residents say the rebels who ring the camp suddenly open fire and then race into the camp, shouting “gabbour, gabbour” – Arabic for whore – and haul away young women.

“You should be here in the evening, when they come in firing their guns and taking people,” a Nigerian woman said on Wednesday. “They don’t use condoms, they use whatever they can find,”. No one keeps statistics in the camp, and foreign aid workers say they are prohibited from discussing the allegations on the record. International Red Cross representatives say only that they have spoken to rebel leaders about “security concerns. 

Stacey Alexandra, a 26 year old, who said she had spent the last three years in Libya cleaning private homes and hotels and sending money back to family in Cameroon said “Sometimes your boss beats you or doesn’t pay you, now everyone here wants to leave. This country is too racist.” – Worldwires

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