The Federal Government of Nigeria has earlier expressed dismay over the burial of the 26 girls who were found dead on the Mediterranean Sea by Italian authorities nine days ahead of the slated date.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa ,the Italian Embassy had earlier indicated to the Director-General, National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) that the burial would take place in Salerno, Italy on November 26, 2017. But the Italian authorities, went ahead with the burial on the 17th of November without informing the Nigerian government.
The bodies of the girls were found on a sinking vessel in the Mediterranean about two weeks ago and there where reports that they may have been sexually abused before they were murdered.
The SSA who addressed newsmen alongside a NAPTIP representative, Mr. Abdulrahim Shaibu, explained that a protest letter had been sent to the Italian envoy in Nigeria over the matter.
Dabiri-Erewa said that information indicated that only three of the girls were identified as Nigerians, noting that the identities of the other victims had yet to be ascertained before they were interred.
But in a recent tweet released by the SSA Abike Dabiri today, she said :
“The Italian Embassy has apologized for the mix up for dates in the burial of the victims of the Mediterranean tragedy. @naptipnigeria and other agencies will continue to work with Italy and others to stem the tide of irregular migration”.