The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received 497 stranded Nigerian migrants repatriated from Niamey, Niger Republic, to Kano State.
The returnees arrived at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Friday at about 12:40 p.m.
Speaking after receiving the migrants, the Head of Operations, NEMA Kano Office, Dr. Nura Abdullahi, said the exercise was a voluntary repatriation and not a forced evacuation.
“It is a voluntary repatriation of Nigerians from Niger Republic. The returnees were brought back by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Abdullahi said.
He explained that the operation was a tripartite arrangement involving the Nigerian Mission in Niger Republic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), aimed at ensuring the safe and dignified return of stranded Nigerians.
According to him, the returnees comprised 174 males, 97 females, 137 boys, and 89 girls from Kano, Jigawa, Borno, Kaduna and other states.
Abdullahi added that NEMA, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, was providing support for the returnees upon arrival.
He said the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons supplied drugs to the Nigerian Red Cross medical team for returnees with health challenges.
The NEMA official attributed the migration of many of the returnees to the search for better economic opportunities abroad, noting that most of them were likely heading to Libya before abandoning the journey after discovering it was unsafe.
He further stated that the agency provided meals for the returnees, adding that after physical verification and profiling, they would be transported to their respective states.
Advising Nigerians against travelling abroad in search of greener pastures, Abdullahi said no country was better than one’s country of origin.
One of the returnees, Sani Hamisu from Kano State, said he travelled to Libya in search of better opportunities after facing financial hardship.
“I wanted to support my family as the first son and also get married, so I decided to travel to Libya,” he said.
“In the desert, there was no water and no food. Many people died. Once your water finishes, nobody can help you, even with a cup of water,” he added.
Hamisu said he spent six years in Libya doing different menial jobs before eventually returning home empty-handed.
“IOM rescued us in the desert and took us back to Niger Republic before we were brought to Nigeria,” he said.
Another returnee, Harira Muhammad, a mother of two from Borno State, said she travelled to Libya eight months ago to support her sick husband.
“My husband was knocked down by a car during a Boko Haram attack and has had a leg fracture since then,” she said.
“I travelled to Libya in search of greener pastures, but we were attacked by bandits who collected our money.”
She appealed to the government to support the returnees with business grants to enable them to rebuild their lives and cater for their families.
