Nigerian miners who were stranded in the Central African Republic (CAR) have opened up on how their Chinese male employers sexually abused them.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports that the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), in collaboration with key government agencies to facilitate the evacuation of miners who had been stranded in a remote village in the Central African Republic (CAR). They were first taken to the Nigerian embassy in Bangui, the capital of CAR, and then transported to Abuja on Thursday.
Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols at NiDCOM, Abdurrahman Balogun, in a statement disclosed that the 12 miners were received by the commission’s Chairperson, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
Speaking at the NiDCOM office, leader of the rescued workers, Igorigo Freeborn, recounted 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.”
While urging the federal government to help redress the injustices they suffered at the hands of their employers, Freeborn 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 while addressing the miner described their ordeal as inhumane and assured them that justice would be served. She stated that the commission, in collaboration with relevant government agencies, would take up the matter. Dabiri-Erewa encouraged the rescued men to behave well and to work with the commission in advocating against irregular migration and its consequences. NiDCOM also provided the miners with financial support to assist them in resettling while they await the payment of their salaries.