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Drama in Senate as Lawmakers Decline to Support Senator Natasha’s Motion on Nigerian Women in Libyan Prisons

ABUJA: A mild drama played out in the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday, October 14, when lawmakers declined to second a motion by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan seeking urgent intervention in the plight of Nigerian women allegedly subjected to sexual abuse and forced motherhood in Libyan prisons.

The motion, which was raised during deliberations on the abuse of rights of Nigerian immigrants in Libya, turned tense when Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, called on the upper legislative chamber to investigate the dehumanizing treatment of female Nigerian detainees in the North African country.

According to her, credible reports have shown that several Nigerian women detained in Libyan correctional facilities are being sexually exploited by prison officials, with some now raising children conceived through rape within prison walls.

Many of our women in Libyan prisons have been converted to sex slaves solely to satisfy the lust of the prison warders, she said during plenary.

Some of them now have children they are forced to nurture while still in captivity. We cannot, in good conscience, ignore this humanitarian tragedy.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, therefore, urged the Senate to mandate the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to liaise with Libyan authorities and facilitate the repatriation of affected women to Nigeria for proper rehabilitation and reintegration.

However, the chamber descended into an uneasy silence after Senate President Godswill Akpabio asked for a seconder to support the motion. None of her colleagues — including female senators — stood up to second her submission. The moment lingered awkwardly, drawing visible discomfort in the chamber before Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele eventually rose to second the motion, preventing an embarrassing procedural collapse.

The incident, which was caught on camera and has since gone viral on social media, has ignited a flurry of public outrage and debate over perceived bias, gender politics, and power dynamics in the National Assembly.

Many Nigerians criticized the senators for failing to immediately support a motion centered on human rights and the protection of vulnerable citizens abroad, describing the incident as “a moral failure” and “an indictment of political insensitivity.”

Social commentators accused some senators of allowing political grievances to overshadow their legislative responsibility, citing Akpoti-Uduaghan’s previous confrontations with Senate President Akpabio as a likely factor in the cold reception to her motion.

Some citizens also faulted the silence of female senators, noting that they missed an opportunity to demonstrate solidarity on a matter directly affecting women.

A social media user commented: It is disheartening that a motion seeking justice for Nigerian women suffering abroad could be met with silence. Even female lawmakers failed to show empathy.

What kind of message does that send to young girls who aspire to leadership?

Others, however, downplayed the drama, arguing that parliamentary processes sometimes require clarifications before motions are adopted, while a few maintained that the viral clip exaggerated the delay between the motion and its seconding.

Still, the episode has drawn renewed attention to the broader plight of Nigerian migrants in Libya, many of whom have faced years of detention, extortion, and physical abuse in the wake of illegal migration attempts across the Mediterranean.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly reported that thousands of African migrants, including Nigerians, are held in overcrowded detention centers in Libya, where they are routinely subjected to forced labour, torture, and sexual exploitation.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s motion, according to her aides, aims to push for a structured inter-agency response involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), and relevant humanitarian bodies to address the crisis.

Though the motion was eventually supported after the intervention of the Senate Leader, the delay in its adoption has continued to stir conversations about legislative ethics, gender representation, and political partisanship in Nigeria’s upper chamber.

Observers say the development underscores the challenge of building consensus on humanitarian issues in a polarized political environment, where personal differences often overshadow collective responsibility.

The Senate is expected to deliberate further on the recommendations of the motion in subsequent sittings.

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