Fifty trafficked Nigerian girls and 19 other stranded citizens have been evacuated from the country and arrived in Nigeria on Sunday, the Nigerian in Diaspora Commission announced on Monday.
The were then flown to Abuja by the Air Peace airline and on arrival at the Abuja airport, they were taken to two hotels in Abuja where they are expected to be profiled today and sent to their various states.
According to reports, the girls, who have spent between two years and 10 years doing forced labour and some engaging in prostitution, were rescued following intervention by the Lebanese government.
The 50 girls who were said to have been trafficked to Lebanon by various traffickers were said to have been promised very lucrative jobs and on getting to the country, they found out that the jobs were not available, but instead, they were made to do all sort of indecent jobs while the other 19 Nigerians were said to have been stranded in the country.
Also speaking on the rescue of the ladies, the Foreign Minister, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, expressed gratitude to the Lebanese government for the support in evacuating the Nigerians.
“With the financial and logistic support of the Lebanese Government and Lebanese community in Nigeria, 50 trafficked Nigerian girls and 19 stranded Nigerian ladies were successfully evacuated from #Lebanon and arrived Nigeria today.
“Profound gratitude to Ambassador Houssam Diad, Lebanese Ambassador in Nigeria and Ambassador Goni Zannabura, Nigerian Ambassador in Lebanon.”
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