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Thursday, January 18, 2018

FGN: Please Investigate Allegations of Trafficking/Enslavement of Nigerian Muslims to Saudi Arabia

Another tape has been circulating on the alleged trafficking of Nigerian Muslims to Saudi Arabia, this time not from a victim but from a middle-aged, enlightened woman resident there. She is worried that "hordes of Nigerian Muslims are recruited into slavery in Arab homes."
She accused a leader of a Muslim organization of masterminding the trafficking syndicate and cited the Federal Government as accomplice. (We must mention here the Jos faction of the organization is seriously against the trafficking and cautioned Nigerians against it several months ago).
Coming just after the devastating audio of Hajiya Aisha Abubakar Anka to which a less convincing rebuttal tape was circulated by the agents, I am beginning to feel that our authorities should wade into the matter quickly to stop the ongoing recruitment programs by individuals and religious organizations if the terms of contract and/or the conditions of execution fall short of ILO standards. We just cannot go on listening to tapes and counter tapes.
If everything is okay, then the program should be allowed to continue but with an alarm-button rescue provision for individual labourer to press, 24/7, in case of any breach of contract term or human right violation.
Nigerians would like to know the following;
1) Nature of engagement. Are the recruitments done under a bilateral labour agreement between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia or they are mere commercial ventures of some independent agencies?
2) What are the terms of that agreement, if it is bilateral?
3) What are the mandatory labour standards set by the Federal Ministry of Labour for such agencies?
4) Which agencies are so far approved by the FGN to undertake labour recruitments to Saudi Arabia?
4) Are Nigerians engaged on their own volition or are motivators - especially religion - are used to lure them? Remember Hajiya Aisha was recruited under the promise that their job will be helping the "cause of Islam."
5) What are the salaries of the labourers and what percentage of it goes to the agency and the government? Some returnees complain that they were paid only 700SR of their 3,000SR remuneration.
6) What is the condition of living of every labourer exported to Saudi Arabia? Here, I mean provision for accommodation, food, health, telephone, possession of or access to passport, freedom of movement, rights for redress and termination of contract, etc.
We have heard cases of violations on each of the above like seizure of passports and handsets, poor accommodation and feeding of domestic workers, unbearable work hours, beatings, rape, and other violations not uncommon in Arab countries and history.
This is an urgent call. We must check this before it tarnishes the image of Muslims, this government and Nigeria as a country. We are not against anyone exporting labour under ILO standards, but as Nigerians, we are against the enslavement of our people by anyone under any disguise.
The FGN should please listen to the complaints and investigate the allegations accordingly and immediately. Even in their absence, it is its duty of a responsible government - more so a government of change - to effectively monitor the conditions of its citizens in every country.
FML, FMEA, NAPTIP, over to you. If you fail to do anything or inform the public on your effort, we will soon appeal to PMB for intervention.
If nothing happens, I fear that some citizens will come in, find the facts themselves and make them known to public. Slavery is slavery anywhere, whether in the brothels of Italy or in the homes of Saudi Arabia. Neither is holy.
Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
16/10/2016
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Some comments below have shown that some countries have stopped such programs due to cases of excessive brutality. Others have expressed the bad experience of returnees. This is more the reason why we must act quickly.

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