Political News
155 Stranded Nigerians Return To Lagos From Libya Today
March 23, 2017 – 155 Stranded Nigerians Return To Lagos From Libya Today
2 weeks after 171 Nigerians voluntarily returned home from Libya , 155 others followed suit on Thursday aboard a chartered Nouvel Air aircraft with registration number TS-1NB.
The aircraft landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at about 6.00p.m.
Like the initial group which returned on March 7 after being stranded in Libya while enroute Europe, the returnees were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Nigerian Embassy in Libya.
They were received at the Hajj Camp area of the airport by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) , the National Agency for the Protection of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) were also on ground to receive them.
Addressing newsmen, Dr Onimode Bandele, Director, Search and Rescue, NEMA, said various agencies were on ground to welcome the returnees to their fatherland.
“We are here to welcome our nationals who have signified their intention to come back home from Libya.
“The returnees are being assisted back home by IOM, having being negotiated out of detention centres in Libya for various immigration offences.
“We had three medical cases on board; one is paralysis, the other one is a psychiatric problem, while the third is a minor injury which has been taken care of with the effort of the IOM doctors and the Port Health Authority,” he said.
Bandele said that the Nigerians had gone to Libya in search of greener pastures, which unfortunately turned out to be a terrible experience for them.
The NEMA official disclosed that the exercise had been in existence since 2001, adding that about 7000 Nigerians had been assisted by IOM to return home from various countries.
“Between March 2016 to December 2016, IOM assisted 867 Nigerians back home. Between February 2017 till date, we have had 654 Nigerians.
“This means that between March 2016 to March 23, 2017, IOM had assisted 1521 Nigerians that have voluntarily returned to the country.
“This exercise we are doing here is to ensure that they are well received and we are also in touch with their respective state governments.
”They (state governments) will definitely take ownership of these voluntary returnees,” he said.
The returnees were profiled by immigration authorities and were each given N19, 695 for transportation to their respective states.
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kofi mensah
March 23, 2017 at 10:16 PM
Too many snobbish Nigerians, that is good they got sent back, next it should be england
Lola O
March 23, 2017 at 10:22 PM
Greener pastures indeed. Nigerians, with the same degree of indiscipline that turned our country into a mess, now going to misbehave in other countries. These Islamic countries don’t tolerate nonsense – they will publicly behead or torture you to death for the slightest offense. You better stay in your country and try to make things work….. greener pastures ko, organic farmland ni. Dreamers.
Concerned Nigerian
March 23, 2017 at 10:54 PM
While not teaching the NIS its job, the ‘Nigerianness’of those individuals need to be confirmed. We all know that Libya does not have a central govt, so what are Nigerians seeking greener pastures doing in that country, whether en-route to Europe or otherwise.
We need to be sure they have not gone to forge Nigerian passports, therefore they should be handed over to their parents, guardians and/or home town traditional rulers.
Adahor Wilfred
March 24, 2017 at 12:42 AM
i pray for them
Adahor Wilfred
March 24, 2017 at 12:42 AM
what waisted time
Bench
March 24, 2017 at 5:15 AM
I have not enter oroplane bifor. It be like say I go follow the next pipul weyris go Lybia to be stranded so that Lybia is put us for oroplane and come back Nigeria.
Mon
March 24, 2017 at 5:32 AM
Not only in Libya our people dey stranded, abeg make the agency extend hand to other countries of the World, anyway na because of war wey dey there, if not,no matter how any Nigeria dey stranded for abroad, he/she will still prefer it to Nigeria, except na deportation.