Over 1000 Nigerians are being held in inhumane conditions in a warehouse in Saudi Arabia over issues concerning incomplete residency papers, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on its tweeter on Thursday.
A Nigerian who spoke to the BBC Hausa Service from the General Service detention centre at Al-Shumaisy, near Makkah, said hundreds of them are being detained under “unbearable condition” for over two weeks, claiming that no Nigerian consulate official had visited them.
“At least, we are Nigerians. There are about 1,000 of us here in the detention facility, including women and children. We spent at least two weeks here. Some of us could not even perform five daily prayers because they are sick and they are not receiving any medical attention. They put us under air-conditioner and everybody is shivering because of cold,” one of the detainees said.
He said that they were detained along with nationals from Niger, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Mali and Pakistan, among others; adding that unlike Nigeria, other countries have since come forward to pick their nationals.
He claimed that they couldn’t reach Nigerian consulate officials. “We could not reach Nigerian officials since we were detained here. We were asked to come out, and we obeyed. But they are keeping us here, “he said.
Source: Tribune
