President Muhammadu Buhari says Majority of dead migrants could be Nigerians

 Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari says he will not be surprised if the majority of the 26 female migrants who died in the Mediterranean and buried recently in Italy were Nigerians.

The president said this was despite the information made available to him that only three of the victims were Nigerians.

Buhari spoke in Abidjan Tuesday night while interacting with the Nigerian community in Cote d’ Ivoire where is attending the 5th European Union-African Union (EU-AU) Summit.

He said while Nigerians who were still at the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean would be evacuated, his government would make Nigerians conducive with a view to discouraging people from going and getting perished there.

Buhari stated: “I am telling you all these because I know that those of you who are making it here I’m sure send contributions home for feeding and for school fees and for healthcare. These are the basic things that the government should do and we are to make sure that the people who are challenging the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean they will be less of Nigerians going that way and getting perished.

“When it was announced that 26 Nigerians died but before they could proved that they were all Nigerians, they were buried. But the evidence I got from the Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Affairs now is that only three were identified as Nigerians. But I won’t be surprised if the majority of them were really Nigerians. And for people to cross the Sahara desert to go into shanty boats across the Mediterranean Sea, I think we will try and keep them at home. But for anyone who dared the desert and the Mediterranean without document to prove that he/she is a Nigerian, there is nothing we can do, absolutely nothing."

Buhari said he hoped to evacuate Nigerians in Libya, whenever identified, and rehabilitate them at home "because the indoctrination is what is happening with the Boko Haram where girls will strap themselves mostly from the ages of 15 downwards and go to the market blow themselves up and anybody around in motor parks, mosques, churches and so on.”

He explained: “In the interview some of you saw, some of the Nigerians said they were being sold like goats for few dollars for years in Libya. Now after 43 years of Gaddafi where he recruited so many people from the Sahel including Nigeria and so on, all they learnt was how to shoot and kill. They didn’t learn to become electricians, plumbers or any other trade. So, when the Libyans stood against their leader those who are not their people, they chased them out. A lot of them came back home with their workers, some of them participated in Boko Haram and become part of Boko Haram.

The Nigerian Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, Ibrahim Isah, put the number of Nigerians in sub Saharan at 1.5 million.