…As Air Peace Returns 78 Trafficked Women
THE Chairman, Air Peace Ltd., Dr Allen Onyema has described human trafficking as a blight on Nigeria’s shared humanity.
Onyema said this as his airline executed a free-of-charge return of 78 trafficked Nigerian women from Abidjan.
This is contained in a statement by the airline’s spokesman, Mr. Efe Ovie-Whiskey, yesterday, in Lagos.
According to the chairman, transporting the trafficked Nigerian women from Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport, Abidjan to Lagos is a legacy of the airline’s humanitarian intervention and national service.
Recall that in April, Onyema publicly promised to transport the trafficked women at no cost.
He also offered them medical and psychosocial support.
“Human trafficking is a blight on our shared humanity. These women were lured with promises but they ended up in misery.
“As an airline of the people, we cannot stand by while Nigerians suffer abroad. We will always rise to the occasion because love for country and for humanity must compel action.
“We will continue to stand in the gap when Nigerians are in distress, whether in Africa or beyond. We are not just flying aircraft, we are about lifting lives.
“Our aircraft will always be available for noble causes. The suffering of our people anywhere in the world should concern us all,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Air Peace collaborated with the Office of the Chargéed’ Affaires of the Nigerian Embassy in Abidjan and the Nigerian Community in Côte d’Ivoire, in returning the women.
The flight, operated on the airline’s wide-body Boeing 737 aircraft with registration 5N-BQV, departed the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at 2.14 p.m. on Friday and touched down back in Lagos at 10.46 p.m. on the same Friday.
