While welcoming the returnees in Kano, Dr. Nuradeen Abdullahi, NEMA Coordinator, made this known. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the returnees were met by the Agency in Kano. They were escorted by representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is situated in the Niger Republic. He claims that a voluntary repatriation program was used to bring the returnee’s home. According to him, the program is intended to help people in need who left their home country in search of better opportunities abroad but were unable to afford to come home after finding their travels to be fruitless.
The NEMA official reported that there were 23 children among the returns, as well as 144 men, 13 women, and 6 boys. The returnees come from many parts of the nation, he said, including Lagos, Katsina, Cross River, Kaduna, Bauchi, and Kano States. The returnees, he said, will go through a four-day program on how to become self-sufficient and get seed money to enable them to participate in productive activities. “We want you to act as ambassadors, warning other Nigerians about unauthorized immigration. No country is better than your own country, so you should avoid putting your life in jeopardy by moving around in search of greener pastures,” Abdullahi advised.
Repatriation program for those in need who had fled their country.
140 stranded Nigerians were also retrieved earlier in July. While welcoming the returnees in Kano, the NEMA Coordinator for the Kano Territorial Office, Dr. Nuradeen Abdullahi, confirmed this. He claimed that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) took care of transporting the returnees from Agadas to Kano in 3 luxurious buses. According to Abdullahi, the returnees were returned home as part of a voluntary repatriation program for those in need who had fled their country in search of better lives in different European Nations but were unable to afford to come home after their journey was unsuccessful.
There were 100 male adults, 30 female adults, and 10 kids among the returnees (6 female and 4 male). Clothing, food, toiletries, blankets, mosquito nets, pampers, and sanitary pads were supplied to each of the returnees. He then urged them to serve as advocates and ambassadors for spreading awareness of irregular migration. No country is better than Nigeria, so Nigerians shouldn’t risk their lives by moving abroad in search of ‘greener pastures’, Abdullahi stated.
I travelled to Libya in search of better lands.
Upon her return, Madam Aisha Lawal, a divorcee and mother of five from Kaduna State, said that she had taken one of her children to Libya in search of ‘greener pastures.’ She added, “I was a businesswoman before I left my husband. We are struggling and I have no funds to continue with my business therefore that was why I travelled to Libya”. Richard Odogwu, a different returnee from Lagos State, claimed that prior to his journey, he was employed by a corporation.
Odogwu explained why he wanted to go to Libya in pursuit of a better life: “My parents are dead, and I have to take care of my siblings,” he stated. NAN reports that between May and June, the organization took in a total of 227 stranded Nigerians from Agadas. NEMA, together with other organizations like the Nigeria Red Cross, SEMA, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and IDPs, as well as the DSS, accepted the returnees.
Nigeria working with UAE government to assist stranded Nigerians in Dubai.
On Sunday, the Nigerian government said that it is coordinating with UAE officials to help Nigerians stuck in Dubai. A recent viral video on social media featured ladies identifying themselves as Nigerians pleading with the government to help them and accusing the Nigerian embassy in Dubai of being unconcerned with their condition. Following the release of the video, Francisca Omayuli stated in a press release on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Nigerian Mission has been working hard to compile the information of the stranded Nigerians in order to issue Emergency Travel Certificates (ETC) to those who lack proper identification.
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