Italy Embassy ‘Apologises’ For Burying 26 Nigerian Migrants
The Italian embassy in Nigeria has apologized for burying 26 Nigerian Migrants who drowned at the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Italy, the Federal Government says.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Relations and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said this in a tweet on Wednesday.
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“The Italian Embassy has apologized for the mix up for dates in the burial of the victims of the Mediterranean tragedy. @naptipnigeria and other agencies will continue to work with Italy and others to stem the tide of irregular migration,” she wrote.
The Italian Embassy has apologized for the mix up for dates in the burial of the victims of the Mediterranean tragedy. @naptipnigeria and other agencies will continue to work with Italy and others to stem the tide of irregular migration
— Abike Dabiri-Erewa (@abikedabiri) November 22, 2017
The 26 girls, who were said to be in search of greener pastures in Europe, were alleged to have been sexually abused in Libya and drowned in Mediterranean Sea.
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The Italian government on Friday, November 17, 2017 held a funeral in Salerno, Italy for the young women.
Dabiri-Erewa had during a press briefing with Mr Abdulrahim Shaibu, representative of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons in Abuja on Monday, accused the Italian authorities of burying the deceased “nine days ahead of the slated date.”
In the statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the presidential aide said: “The Italian Embassy earlier indicated to the DG NAPTIP that the burial will take place in Salerno, Italy on Nov. 26, 2017, but however went ahead with the burial on November, 17th 2017..
“Why were they hurriedly buried nine days before the date communicated to the DG NAPTIP by the Italian Embassy without any information to Nigerian Government’’, they asked
The government had demanded explanations from Italy.
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Meanwhile, some Nigerians have also criticized the federal government for the manner it handled the situation.
