Oyo governor, Seyi Makinde, says indigenes of the state who are victims of human trafficking in Lebanon will be repatriated free of charge.
There have been recent reports about Nigerians, usually women, who are trafficked to Lebanon to work as maids for employers who dehumanise them.
Makinde’s Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Matters, Bolanle Sarumi-Aliyu, told him on Sunday, August 2, 2020 that there are 40 of such trafficked victims who have been confirmed to be Oyo indigenes.
She said they had been trafficked into apparent modern-day slavery in Lebanon and were suffering.
Makinde said the state government is willing to pay for the repatriation of all Oyo indigenes who are victims of trafficking in the Arab country.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says more than 100 such victims of forced labour have been repatriated from Lebanon since May.
