LIBYA: 1,317 Nigerians have voluntarily returned in last 10 days- NEMA

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has disclosed that a total of 1,317 Nigerians have voluntarily returned from Libya in the last 10 days having been stranded in the country enroute Europe.

The Director-General of NEMA, Mustapha Maihajja, stated this while receiving a fresh batch of 116 returnees who arrived the country on Friday morning.

The new set of returnees reportedly arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos aboard a Buraq Airlines with Registration Number 5A-WAC at about 5.39 a.m.

They comprised 46 adult females, 60 adult males and 10 children and infants respectively.

It is reported that no fewer than 3,000 Nigerians have voluntarily returned from Libya through the International Organisation for Migration (IOM)-supported programme in the last few months.

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Maihajja, represented by Suleiman Yakubu, the South-West Zonal Coordinator, said the Nigerians returned in various batches between December 5 and December 15 with the assistance of the IOM and the European Union (EU).

According to him, the figure has already surpassed the 1, 295 Nigerians who voluntarily returned from Libya in the month of November.

Maihajja said the Federal Government would continue to work with the international organisations to ensure the return of more Nigerians from Libya where they had been suffering.

Also, on ground to welcome the returnees were officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Police.

 

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