140 Nigerians Returned From Libya After Failing To Enter Europe Through The Back Door

Nigerians who attempted to illegally migrate to Europe through Libya have been brought back to the country by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The latest returnees, 140 of them, comprise 39 adult females, eight female children, as well as 76 adult males and 17 male children.

The returnees hit Nigeria aboard a Libyan Airline at 10:38pm on Tuesday, through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The acting Zonal Coordinator, Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Segun Afolayan, received themon behalf of the Federal Government at the Cargo Wing of MMIA.

Afolayan stated that with the addition of 140 returnees, so far, 4,123 Nigerians had been repatriated from the war-torn North African country, while the total number brought back from April 2017 grew to 11,833.

On behalf of the Federal Government, he lauded the initiative of IOM in assisting the Nigerians back home, and assured the United Nations (UN) body that the various Federal Agencies had benefitted in various ways since the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the organisation in 2011.

He added: “Though, the IOM has been partnering with NEMA long before this time and what have achieved at all levels of contact are a service to humanity, even as dynamic as management of human beings are, we are grateful for the service.

“The feedback from the Migrants Resource Centres (MRC) have been very positive and encouraging, the recording of over 3,000 enquiries by prospective migrants and assistance given by the centres are very commendable.”

The IOM, in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Labour, had established three Migrants Resource Centres in Abuja, Benin and Lagos.

The centres are opened for intending migrants to access for enquiries on information about the prospective country of destination, the various job opportunities in the country, safest route and other important information.