House of Representatives
November 30, 2017
The House of Representatives on Thursday said it would conduct a public hearing on its resolution to investigate the death of the 26 girls and auctioning of Africans in Libya.
It said that the hearing would be arranged and scheduled immediately in spite of the pending consideration of 2018 Appropriation Bill.
The lawmakers also resolved that relevant committees were expected to make sure that all stakeholders were invited for facts and to proffer workable solutions to the crime.
The decision came after the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara, briefed members on his trip to Italy where he participated in a Conference convened by the President of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, Ms Laura Bodrini.
Dogara said that it was time to join forces and work together to confront the scourge of human trafficking and modern slavery.
According to him, now is the time to act; the world must not sheik this responsibility.
He decried the death of Nigerians while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, in addition to the terrifying news that another set of 30 migrants had died in the Mediterranean and 200 rescued.
Dogara expressed concern over the recent CNN report on auctioning of black African migrants as salves in Libya.
He said that unless slave masters were forced to stop, they won’t on their own put a stop to the criminal act.
Dogara also disclosed that the House would convene a major Conference on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery as part of its intervention to help put an end to “the evil’’.
He said that the conference would afford experts the opportunity to make recommendations on possible legislative and executive actions required to tame the illicit trade.
