DABIRI-EREWA: Illegal Migration Has Been With Us

The Diaspora  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives which  you chaired in the Seventh House of Assembly made a lot of startling revelations about the fact of Nigerians languishing in foreign prisons; what are the general inferences you drew from that experience?
THE number of Nigerians in foreign prisons is quite alarming; we have been to a number of prisons abroad. Take Brazil for instance, the number of Nigerians in Brazilian prisons is more than the number from the whole of Europe put together and of course, we have the largest in Africa. In China we have thousands, in South Africa, we have over 409 prisoners, we have hundreds in India, Malaysia and I can go on and on and on, but the fact is that from our investigations, there are some Nigerians that should not really be in prison.

Take for instance, some of the cases we came across in South Africa.  There is a particular Nigerian that has been sentenced to death just because he got involved in a fight with others and somebody died. He was the only one charged for the murder, while other South Africans were let off. He had no access and means to get a lawyer. When you look at it really he didn’t have  a  strong  legal  representation, though  the  mother  has appealed, but she does not have the money to get a lawyer so she may have to rely on the state lawyers. So, you see, there are some cases of Nigerians that really should not be in prison and those are the ones that worry us. You know some are being unjustly detained and I believe the embassies concerned should intervene so that if truly they are guilty then they should be punished but there are few that really should not be where they are: behind bars! Let the guilty be punished, but let the innocent ones be freed.

Illegal migration by Africans  has  become  a  new  source  of  concern to the international  community,  what do you see as the major cause of this unbridled excursions to foreign lands?

The issue of illegal migration by Africans is not something new. Maybe now it is getting a lot of mention in the international media because of those that have been dying at sea. I recall vividly well that this is one area we persistently drew the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidency to, a few years back. Starting from Nigerians going to Europe through Libya, Morocco; in fact many of them don’t even get there because they die in the desert before they get to their destination. They travel through Niger, Chad to get to Libya, Morocco and then cross over to Europe, but more often than not a lot of them don’t even get to their destination. They die in the desert. In Libya once you are caught, you are put in prison. Many have died in prison; many have been killed especially in the days of Gaddafi and we drew a lot of attention of the government to this but not much attention was paid to it. Our youths are migrating in droves seeking for hope in hopelessness.  They will tell you that they are looking for jobs but you know it turns out to a worse situation.

We cannot run away from the fact that, we have to ensure youth employment. Unemployment needs to be tackled because we have met a lot of them that are actually desperately in search of survival and what happens to them thereafter is really   pathetic.  It is the responsibility of government to ensure the best is done to provide an enabling environment for our young people to get employment. There could be greed, but you find out that there are many who are really desperate for survival.

Do you think the Ministry of Interior Affairs has been doing enough to enlighten youth and discourage their blind quest for greener pastures?

No. The Ministry of Interior Affairs needs to do more and not just the Ministry of Interior Affairs, but even other agencies and the media. We tried and did a bit of it; we started a programme of liaising with some embassies.

For instance, when you want to apply for a visa to go to Indonesia, right from the point of application and to  the  point  of  getting  a  ticket,  you  should  know  that  if  you  carry  drugs  to Indonesia the penalty is death. So if after that information you still go ahead to carry drugs then you are on your own. There are some countries that we need to understand their laws before going there. So there should be a lot of massive campaigns.

Between greed, lure  of  free  income  and  peer  influence  which  do  you perceive  as  the  major  disposing  factors  for  youth  engaged  in  foreign travels in search of better life?

Unemployment! You see, for those who carry drugs it is greed. For those illegally migrating to other countries because they want to work can be said to be the lure of seeking work. Of course, there is greed like those who do drugs, yahoo yahoo, credit card scams. And if you are involved in that you deserve whatever penalty you get.