30 Nigerians who were victims of human trafficking have been rescued from Lebanon where they were left stranded.
Gabriel Odu of its Media, Public Relations and Protocol Unit of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) made this known in a statement.
Mr. Gabriel pointed out that the rescue came after video footage of the stranded Nigerians making an appeal to the federal government and well-meaning Nigerians to come to their aid went viral on the Internet.
“They will be part of 150 other Nigerians to be rescued from Lebanon to Nigeria after they were trafficked and left stranded in Lebanon.
“The Lebanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Houssam Diab disclosed the evacuation plans when the Management of NIDCOM, led by the Secretary, Dr Sule Bassi, visited that country’s mission in Abuja,” Mr Odu said in the statement.
It was added that the 150 girls would be returned home in batches with the first group of 110 people leaving Beirut for Lagos on August 12.
“The diplomat commended efforts of the Lebanese Community and the Oyo State Government who is sponsoring the return of 55 of the girls,” he said.
The recused number of people were broken down as follows:
Oyo State had 41, Ogun 21, Lagos 12, Ondo 18, Osun 26, and Imo 3, Kwara– 9, Enugu — 1, Ekiti — 6, Kogi — 1, Edo — 1, Delta — 3, Ebonyi — 1, Benue — 1, Abia — 1, Akwa Ibom — 1, and Anambra — 1,” he said.
The second batch is expected to arrive in Abuja on August 16.
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