FOLLOWING renewed tension and killings of black Libyans and foreign nationals in Libya, Nigeria has secured an understanding with the Transitional National Council (TNC) in Tripoli to protect the remaining Nigerians in the crisis-torn north African country.
The accord, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, will subsist well beyond the lifespan of the current struggle for power in Libya. It is expected to prepare the ground for a new Libyan-Nigerian bilateral relations devoid of mutual distrust while Nigeria will also play role in stabilizing democracy in the country and be part of efforts at re-building and reconstruction of a post-conflict Libya.
There have been reports indicating that some Nigerians are feared to have also been caught up in the cross-fire of reprisal killings. Some of the killings are thought to be linked to the recognition that has been granted to the TNC by the Federal Government.
A distress call from Libya was recently sent by one Siji Daramola to the effect that about 200 Nigerians were still trapped in that nation and face a risk of being eliminated. Nigeria currently does not have a functional diplomatic mission in Tripoli having been formally closed in March this year pending the return of the country to normalcy.
Investigations by The Guardian on the matter could not confirm the true identities and nationalities of persons said to have been killed in a renewed wave of attacks. The Foreign Ministry's Situation Room, for instance, is being made to co-ordinate Nigerian cell groups in parts of Libya (Nigeria's mission in Tripoli is shut) and report any distress for appropriate action.
Confirming this to The Guardian, Ashiru also said: "He is (Siji Daramola) now our contact person. He is on ground and through him, we are verifying the protection arrangement Nigeria now has with the TNC. Having stretched a hand of fellowship to the new leadership in Libya, in reciprocity our citizens would get maximum protection. This is an accord reached now. Indeed, this was one of the reasons why recognition was granted the group in the first place. By the tenets of the new foreign policy, the sanctity of the lives of Nigerians is being taken very, very seriously. Once our citizens don't act callously, they have nothing to fear".
A high level Nigerian diplomatic source further told The Guardian yesterday "we have seen nationals of countries who were collaborating with the collapsed regime of Muammar Gaddafi being targeted. Now, Nigerians have not been part of that xenophobic attacks. That does not include Nigeria. There were Nigeriens and Malians and Mauritanians. The government here has shown responsiveness. I recall during the Liberian crisis, this country sent twice Boeing 747 to evacuate Nigerians. Yet, when full-blown war fell out, Nigerians were still trapped there. In fact, the second plane returned home almost empty to our embarrassment..."
A total of 4,000 Nigerians were evacuated from Libya, well above the originally targeted number of 2,000. Midway through the exercise, hundreds of other Nigerians had emerged from the hinterland and interior communities in the Jamahiriya country.
The very flight brought in 194 passengers, including Nigeria's Embassy officials and their families, the first flight in the last batch of the evacuation exercise had brought in 558 stranded Nigerian passengers, after the Second one, which brought in 496 and another 536 in a third chattered flight. Foreign service offices were part of the core of the 1,784 citizens brought in earlier after an initial delay in clearance by the Libyan authorities.
During the period, the Nigerian Charge De Affaires in Libya Mr. Harun Umar was on hand in Abuja. He told The Guardian: "there are no more Nigerians at the Tripoli International Airport. Our top officials (Including Sheik K. Lemu, Tijjani Otman and Mrs M. O. Abodunde) have been involved in evacuating other Nigerians in the interior parts of Libya"
A special team comprising officials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the foreign ministry, National Commission for Refugees, Nigeria Immigration Services, Civil defence corps and relevant security agencies was set up then to receive coordinate the movement of citizens brought in by the International Organisation for Migrations (IOM) and United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) who continued to evacuate stranded citizens through Libya's neighbouring countries like Egypt and Tunisia.
The Guardian