- Twelve Nigerian miners rescued from Central African Republic reported sexual abuse and 11 months unpaid salaries by Chinese employers
- NiDCOM Chairman Abike Dabiri-Erewa promised justice will be served after three-week repatriation process from remote CAR village
Nigerian miners who were stranded in the Central African Republic (CAR) claim they were sexually exploited by their Chinese male supervisors.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), greeted the 12 miners in Abuja on Friday, according to a statement published by Abdurrahman Balogun, the commission’s director of media, public relations, and protocols.
NiDCOM, in collaboration with key government institutions, coordinated the miners’ evacuation from a distant village in CAR, where they were stranded, to the Nigerian embassy in Bangui, the country’s capital, and finally to Abuja on Thursday. The repatriation process lasted three weeks.
Speaking at the NiDCOM office, Igorigo Freeborn, leader of the rescued workers, recalled how they lived in harsh, unsafe conditions in the forest after their recruiters abandoned them without pay.
Freeborn said amid 11 months’ unpaid salaries, “we were homosexually abused by our Chinese employers in CAR”.
“I am not ashamed to say it. I want other people to learn from it. We were treated badly there, but thank God for sparing our lives to tell the stories today,” he added.
He urged the federal government to help redress the injustices they suffered at the hands of their employers.
The miner said he was an unpatriotic citizen who did not “think anything good can come out of the country, but we were all so happy to receive help and succour from Nigeria”.
Dabiri-Erewa described their ordeal as inhumane and assured that justice will be served, saying the commission in conjunction with relevant government agencies would take up the matter.
Dabiri-Erewa counselled the rescued men to be of good behaviour and partner with the commission in its advocacy on irregular migration and its consequences.
NiDCOM provided the miners with cash support to help them resettle pending payment of their salaries.
The workers also received a cash donation from Perchstone and Greys, a law firm.
Other rescued workers are Rotimi Kupoluyi, Ajosi Julius, Odeh Collins, Anifowoshe Yekini, Akubo Oluwaseun, Olayemi Peter Adewal, Stephen Abel Otkli, Samuel Ojochenemi, Alih Joel Muhammed, Unekwu Bala and Yusuf Bameyi.