Federal government raises alarm over burial of 26 migrants in Italy
- The federal government has expressed shock over the hasty burial of 26 migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean sea
- The Italian embassy had earlier said the burial would take place on November 26
- Most of the 26 females who were between the ages of 14 and 30 were buried on November 17
The Nigerian federal government has condemned the burial of 26 girls found dead on the Mediterranean Sea by the Italian authorities ahead of the scheduled date.
Legit.ng gathered that Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the senior special assistant to the president on foreign affairs and Diaspora, said the Italian embassy had earlier stated that the women would be buried on November 26 in Salerno, Italy.
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However contrary to what the Italian Embassy had told the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the girls were buried nine days before the scheduled date.
Mrs Dabiri-Erewa told journalists in Abuja on Monday, November 20, that only three of the deceased have been identified as Nigerians according to the Director-General, National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons who is in Salerno, Italy at the moment.
She further condemned the “hasty burial of the women”, saying adequate information and proper enlightenment were necessary to avoid a re-occurrence.
The SSA, alongside Abdulrahim Shuaibu, a representative of NAPTIP, explained that a protest letter had been sent to the Italian envoy in Nigeria over the matter.
Legit.ng previously reported that the 26 Nigerian female migrants who died in the Mediterranean on November 3 have been buried.
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They were buried at the Salerno's Monumental Cemetery in Italy by the country's government, according to witnesses.
It is learnt that most of the 26 females were between the ages of 14 and 30 and their bodies were recovered from the Mediterranean by a Spanish Warship, Cantabria. Only five of them were identified.
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Source: Legit.ng
