26 Nigerian Female Migrants allegedly Sexually Abused & Murdered in Mediterranean Sea

26 Nigerian Female Migrants allegedly Sexually Abused & Murdered in Mediterranean Sea

Italian prosecutors are looking into circumstances surrounding the death of 26 Nigerian female migrants at sea.

According to BBC, a Spanish warship Cantabria docked in the southern part of Salemo carrying 375 migrants along with the dead women.

There are suspicions that they may have been sexually abused and murdered as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean.

Five migrants are being questioned in the southern port of Salerno.

A Spanish warship, Cantabria, docked there carrying 375 migrants and the dead women, following several rescues.

Twenty-three of the dead women had been on a rubber boat with 64 other people.

Italian media report that the women’s bodies are being kept in a refrigerated section of the warship. Most of them were aged 14-18.

Most of the 375 survivors brought to Salerno were sub-Saharan Africans, from Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, The Gambia and Sudan, the daily La Repubblica reports.

Among them were 90 women – eight of them pregnant – and 52 children.

There were also some Libyan men and women on board.

People-smuggling gangs charge each migrant about $6,000 (£4,578) to get to Italy, $4,000 of which is for the trans-Saharan journey to Libya, according to the Italian aid group L’Abbraccio.

Many migrants have reported violence, including torture and sexual abuse, by the gangs.

There are suspicions that the girls may have been sexually abused and murdered as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean.

Five of the surviving migrants are however being questioned to get details on what happened to the women who were mostly aged 14-18.

Majority of the survivors were Sub-Saharan Africans from Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, The Gambia & Sudan.

90 women (8 pregnant) were among the survivors along with 52 children. Some Libyan men and women were also among the rescued.