149 Nigerians repatriated from Niger

The Lagos Territorial Office of the National Emergency Management Agency, along with other stakeholders, has received 149 returnees from Niger Republic.

NEMA in a statement on its social media handles on Wednesday noted that the returnees arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday.

The return was facilitated by the International Organisation for Migration Mission in Niger Republic.

Of the 149 returnees, two persons were said to have sustained leg injuries.

NEMA said, “The returnees arrived in the country via Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Cargo Terminal aboard SkyMali Boeing 737-500 airline with registration UR-COX.

“The charter flight had a total of 149 returnees which comprised 87 adult males, 25 adult females, 22 children and 15 infants. Meanwhile, there are two medical cases involved; two adult males with leg injuries. Port health and IOM medical teams were on the ground to provide the necessary support.

“In line with the reception process, biometric registration was conducted by the Nigeria Immigration Service as part of the activities to ensure that the returnees were well documented.”

In January, the Kano Territorial Office of NEMA said it repatriated 975 stranded Nigerians from the Niger Republic in 2023.

This was as the agency advised Nigerian youths to stop endangering their lives by engaging in irregular migration in search of greener pastures in other countries.

The returnees comprised 561 male, 152 female adults and 262 children from Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Borno, Yobe, Sokoto and Bauchi states.

The NEMA Coordinator, Kano Territorial Office, Dr Nuradeen Abdullahi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.