The Federal Government has identified 5,000 more Nigerians trapped in Libya detention camps.
Illiya Fachano, Chargé d’Affaires of Nigeria in Libya, said “there is a camp with 5,000 Nigerians and we need the diplomatic police to escort us to extract them.
“There are various camps in the regions of South, West and East of Libya.
“The UN-backed Libyan government is in the western region which is where Tripoli is.
“Camps in the other regions are known but inaccessible camps due to the challenges of going into these camps as a communication chain is required before we can reach them,” he said.
The charge d’affaires said that the Nigerian government has been in talks with the recognised government in Tripoli on how to reach some of the camps to extract its nationals.
Fachano called for the provision of a bigger aircraft to evacuate Nigerians who have agreed to come back home.
“We need the Nigerian government to better fund its embassy in Libya and send the aircraft.
“We have made our request for that”.
He called on the UN to help out by sponsoring repatriation flights, provide food and health materials for the migrants.
The charge d’affaires said the Federal Government has so far repatriated 3,250 from Libya in recent times.
This is even as 300 other Nigerians are to be repatriated from Libya every week.
Fachano said the government would continue to make efforts to save Nigerians that are trapped in Libya.
“We, the embassy of Nigeria in Tripoli, Libya, have been doing our best to register Nigerians.
“We have visited the detention camps, and also collaborated with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to repatriate migrants weekly.
“We also ensure that we are up to date with the number of Nigerians in specific detention camps.
“I want it to be clear that the mission and Nigerian government have been doing this long before the CNN report.”
“We have asked the Nigerian presidency to provide us with an extra airplane to assist with quick repatriation of registered Nigerians who are willing to return.
“I want the public to know that we have some Nigerians who are not willing to return despite the unfavorable situations and the fact is that we can’t get them on the flight without their consent.
Fachano said that the repatriation exercise would be a continuous exercise.
