The National Emergency Management Agency received another batch of 266 Nigerians stranded in Niger Republic on Friday.
Mustapha Ahmed-Habib, Director General of NEMA, addressed the returnees in Kano, Kano State.
The reception was held at Kano’s Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.
Ahmed-Habib, who was represented by NEMA Coordinator, Kano Territorial Office, Dr. Nuradeen Abdullahi, stated that the returnees arrived and were received at the airport’s international wing.
He said:
The 130 returnees arrived late on Thursday night while 136 arrived on Friday at about 3:50am with SKY MALI Airlines, operated by Ethiopian airlines FML5001 with registration number VR-CQX.
He noted that the returnees were brought back to Kano under the care of the International Organisation for Migration from Niger Republic (Niamey) through a voluntary repatriation programme.
Ahmed-Habib added:
The programme was meant for the distressed Nigerians who had left the country to seek greener pastures in various European countries and could not afford to return when their journey became frustrated.
The returnees comprised 144 males, 56 females and 66 children.
“The returnees are from different parts of the country; some from Katsina, Kaduna, Bauchi, Sokoto and Kano States, among others,” he said.
The DG further explained that the returnees would undergo a four-day training on how to achieve self-sustainability and be provided with seed capital to enable them to engage in productive activities to be self-reliant.
He said:
“We want you to serve as ambassadors, who would be sensitising other Nigerians against irregular migration.”
Ahmed-Habibo advised the general public to avoid putting their lives in danger by travelling to other countries in search of greener pastures, saying that no country was better than Nigeria.
According to him, from April to December 13, the agency received 723 stranded Nigerians who were repatriated from Agadas, Niger Republic, Khartoum, Sudan, and Chad and trained in a variety of skills.
He urged them to learn from their mistakes and to be law-abiding citizens.
Hajiya Salamatu Muhammad of Kano State recounted her ordeals, saying she travelled to Niger with her 6-year-old granddaughter in search of greener pastures.
Muhammad said:
Initially I intended to travel to Algeria, but on our way, the driver dropped us in a town called Asamaka in Niger Republic.
My husband is old and his shop has been seized so I had no option than to travel to seek for greener pasture.
Before I left Nigeria, I was into making Fura (millet dough ball).
We spent six months in Asamaka; we suffered.
In the process, my granddaughter fell sick, as a result, she could not eat and was given medical drip to survive.
Usman Kabir, another returnee from Zaria, Kaduna State, said he sold his plot of land to travel to Libya to seek for greener pastures.
Kabir said:
I was a phone repairer before I left Zaria.
I saw one of my friends sending money to his parents from Libya, that was why I decided to seek for greener pasture.
My parents are poor and I am the first born so I decided to travel to enable me to cater for my parents and siblings, but unfortunately I was stranded in the Sahara.
My dream of becoming rich has ended.
I feel shy to go back to my family because I came back with nothing.
NAN reports that NEMA received the returnees along with other sister security agencies, including SEMA, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs and Nigeria Red Cross and the Department of State Services.