Ilguilas Weila

Ilguilas Weila (* 1957 in Barmou ) is a Nigerian abolitionist and founder of the human rights organization Timidria , which campaigns against slavery in Niger. In 2004 Ilguilas Weila and Timidria received the Anti-Slavery Award from the international organization Anti-Slavery International .

Slavery is officially banned in Niger and the Nigerien government denies the existence of slavery, but human rights organizations like Anti-Slavery International estimate the number of slaves in the country to be at least 40,000. In his speech on the Anti-Slavery Award 2004, Ilguilas Weila even spoke of 870,000.

Ilguilas Weila was born in the village of Ourihamiza, which was then in the arrondissement of Tchintabaraden and is now in the area of ​​the rural municipality of Barmou. He belongs to the high-ranking, dark-skinned Tuareg sub-group Igorane. Weila attended elementary school in his home village and continued his education at the general secondary school in Tahoua and at the vocational school for telecommunications in Niamey . During this time he did a one-year internship at Agence France-Presse .

On April 28, 2005, Ilguilas Weila and five of his colleagues were arrested on charges of embezzling funds from international partner organizations such as Anti-Slavery International amounting to two billion CFA francs . Anti-Slavery International denied this. Four of the accused were released soon afterwards. On May 19, a demonstration against Weila's arrest took place in the capital Niamey. On June 17, Weila and his fellow prisoner Alassane Biga were released on bail .

Web links

• President of Timidria Ilguilas Weila's acceptance speech for the 2004 Anti-Slavery Award ( Memento from June 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). (English).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Mahamane Souleymane Cisse dit "le Che". Association Traversées, November 11, 2004, accessed March 27, 2015 (French).