Halima, who left Nigeria in 2022 under the arrangement of a woman identified as Funmi, reportedly worked under her sponsor for over a year before gaining some independence and relocating to Tripoli….CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
The family of 21-year-old Halimat Eniola Adeshewa, known as Halima Shalewa, has appealed to the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Nigerian Embassy in Libya to urgently intervene and secure her release following her alleged illegal arrest and detention in Tripoli.
Halima, who left Nigeria in 2022 under the arrangement of a woman identified as Funmi, reportedly worked under her sponsor for over a year before gaining some independence and relocating to Tripoli.
She later moved to Misrata, where she stayed with a family friend and engaged in menial work, including hospital assistance, until her arrest in November 2023.
According to her mother, who spoke with SaharaReporters in an emotional interview on Sunday, Halima was picked up alongside others at an eatery in Tripoli under unclear circumstances and was subsequently jailed without formal charges or legal representation.
The family claims she was unaware of any wrongdoing and believes her detention was illegal.
The mother, visibly distressed, appealed for government’s intervention, expressing fears over her daughter’s safety and health while in detention.
According to Halima’s mother, “She travelled to Libya in 2022 through a woman named Funmi. She worked for her for about a year and a few months. Later, she began working in Tripoli, and then moved to stay with a female family friend in Misrata, where she worked until November last year.
“In November, during a visit to some friends in Tripoli, she was arrested. Since then, we had no contact with her until last month, when a woman named Peace from Tripoli called me. She said she had a message from my daughter. Peace has been very helpful and visits her every Thursday.
“My daughter hopes to return to Tripoli and work for a while in order to recover her belongings and other personal items,” she said.
She further stated, “She was arrested along with some other people at an eatery in Tripoli, according to her friends.My daughter is twenty-one years old (born on 27th July 2004). She stays with a family friend and from there goes to work at Glamis, and sometimes at a hospital.
“Before the conflict in Tripoli, the woman who arrested her had unknowingly sent different people to prison in Jediddah.
“A woman from Tripoli has been trying to help rescue her, but she also works in Tripoli and only visits the prison every Thursday.
“I am appealing to the Nigerian government to kindly assist us in rescuing my daughter from prison. We want her to return to Tripoli first, so she can retrieve her belongings and work for a while before coming back to Nigeria.
“We have tried our possible best to secure her release. She was arrested in Libya last year, in November. Before her arrest, she was living in Tripoli and later got a job in Misrata. She had visited a friend in Tripoli, and it was during that visit that she was arrested.
“We have done everything within our power to rescue her. We were informed that the Nigerian embassy in Libya is assisting Nigerians who were illegally arrested.
“However, the individuals we were referred to at the embassy are demanding large sums of money that we cannot afford. Despite all our efforts, nothing has worked so far,” Halima’s mother added.
The family is calling on the Nigerian government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Nigerian mission in Libya to take immediate action to investigate the case and ensure Halima’s safe return home.
Cases of Nigerian migrants facing harsh conditions, exploitation, and unlawful detention in North African countries like Libya have continued to raise concerns among human rights groups and international observers….CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
