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Article 4.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Universal Declaration Of Human Rights

That above is what is written on the universal declaration of Human Rights.

A bold declaration that came up as a result of the horrors that the world saw after world war 2, it was and still is one of the most important and human-centric documents of all time.

I really do not have much to say today.
Initially, I had been setting up to write about a lovely evening I had and the series of surprising things that my cat did throughout the week.

But then I looked upon the news and I was heartbroken. It is easy to shut your eyes to the woes of the world, to keep mute while everyone else burns.

I speak of cause, about the situation in Libya and the modern day slavery that is occurring there.

Coincidentally, this isn't the first time I had been hearing of this sort of thing. Libya has always been a notorious country, from the time when it was run by Gaddafi, to the take over by rebel leaders, things have been scary.

But never in my wildest dreams did I phantom that an age would come when slavery would be a major issue again.
What pains me the most about all these is that some Africans still are not enlightened to the best way of living.

Agreed, the world is tough, the terrain crawling with natural death traps, weather hazards, climate change, earthquakes, you name it. The world throws at us a lot of things, but rather than prey on your fellow man, your fellow African, while not band together and grow?

I am an African, a proud one at that. I have tried to get myself an image that would portray my intellect, my ingenuity, my self worth. I am not barbaric, I am not a scammer, and I do not wish myself, or any other person I associate with, to be branded in such a way that would mean I am barbaric, unkept and/or unintelligent.

The situation as it were

If youre in Nigeria, then you'll know the inhouse or maybe in-country joke we all make about people finding greener pasture in Europe. We even got destinations assigned to specific regions. From the west, Ogun and Lagos to be precise, we expect them to go to Malaysia, from Edo, na Italy them dey go.

But while its a good laugh, it's a dangerous one, as it is a very real situation.
In the African Union-European Union Summit held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, president Buhari of Nigeria had this to say;

some Nigerians are being sold like goats for few dollars

That, is what we find ourselves today. Thousands upon thousands of migrants from West africa, and a few from other countries, are being held in warehouses and camps in Libya, hoping, waiting , praying that they somehow manage to catch a ride into Europe.

When these warehouses get overstocked, since the worth of a human soul now has a price tag, these migrants are essentially sold for as low as $400 $500 $700 per head.

A group of 5 can even be bought for a discount rate of $1200 or whatever you're able to bargain.

ref: 1 2

If everything about the sale of humans hasn't sickened you or turned your stomach, then I do not want to know what sort of individual you might be.

But who is to blame? What can be done?

First of, I must commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for actually listening to the pleas of Nigerians, and taking steps immediately to get nigerians off Libya and back to the country.

But the question I ask myself now remains. Who is to blame for the slave trade occurring over there. . .
The Libyan government?
The rebels initiating the trades?
The migrants who want passage?
The countries from which the migrants come?
The European nations who turn these migrants back?

It turns out, everyone is to blame.

If as a country, you cannot provide enough basic amenities for your citizens, that they start leaving in droves, then you have failed your people. A government that cannot be or would not be responsible, only waiting for the dire moment before reacting is a sore sight that must be cleansed.

In the same light, a country that cannot protect those foreigners within its borders is not worthy to be called a country.

The IOM reported the existence of slave markets in April. “The reports of ‘slave markets’ for migrants can be added to a long list of outrages [in Libya],” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM’s head of operation and emergencies.

source

Source_International center for migration policy development

We as humans are always looking to be comfortable, never leaving our Shell, our protective bubble we surround ourselves with.

We could go on and on blaming everyone, and indeed faults would be found in the loins of everyone. But what good will that do?

I can only speak up and hope that others speak u when a situation like this occurs.

This isn't restricted to slave trade in Libya alone.
When something bad happens, the world turns a blind eye, we look the other way. We wish for the evil that is happening to magically go away. Only when it has escalated to a mighty situation does everybody start to talk. Like I posted above, apparently individuals had known about the slave trades since april. APRIL!

I am 100% certain organizations such as amnesty international, the CIA, DSS, Russian intelligence, British intelligence and all manner of secret services and spy organizations(if you can call them that) would have known about this. Governments of different countries would have known about this, yet they choose to turn a blind eye.

In light of all this, I can only pray things get better on this planet inwhich we live in.

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I would like to throw a one time contest on this issue then. It pays to know your rights as a human being, your rights as an individual. So I am giving 15SBD to a lucky winner.

Simply make a short video of yourself, quoting anyone of the articles from the Universal declaration of human rights.

http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

The winner will be announced in 4 days.

The rules are as follow;

You must resteem this post
You must be a human;)
Your post must not be older than mine
Your video should not be unnecessarily long, a super short video of yourself stating out an article from the above document.
You must use the tag ''humanrights''
You have 4 days

The contest is open to everyone, be ye from Africa, Europe, Antarctica, as long as you live on planet earth, you are qualified.

It isnt a popularity contest, take it as a way to show that you are different, that you care for those around you, that you're an individual with a heart.

Anyone wanting to add to the price pool is welcome, simply send donations to my account and write the memo accordingly.

Winner will be picked absolutely randomly.

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Some inaccuracies or spelling mistake may be in order, I am writing in the dark(3am Nigerian time), with no light, and a laptop about to turn off, sincerely still had way more to write, but I guess this is enough for now