104 stranded Nigerians who were stranded in Chad Republic have returned to Nigeria, the National Emergency Management Agency has disclosed.
The Coordinator, Kano Territorial Office of the Agency, Dr Nuradeen Abdullahi, made the disclosure on Tuesday in Kano state.
The returnees were received at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
Represented by Suleiman Sa’ad-Abubakar, Head of Human Resources, NEMA Kano, Abdullahi said the returnees arrived at the airport at about 2:15 p.m.
He said the returnees were transported to Nigeria by SKY MALI Airlines, operated by Ethiopian Airline B737-500 with registration number UR-CQX.
The Coordinator said the returnees comprised 34 males, 18 females and 52 children who hailed from Kano, Katsina, Borno, Akwa Ibom and Yobe.
“The returnees were brought back under the care of the International Organisation for Migration from N’Djamena through a voluntary repatriation programme.
“The programme is for the distressed who had left the country to seek greener pastures in European countries and could not afford to return when their journey became frustrated,” he said.
According to him, the government will train the returnees under skill acquisition programmes to enable them to learn trades and become self-reliant to fast-track their integration into the society.
While urging the returnees to be law-abiding, Abdullahi advised Nigerians to shun illegal migration and avoid endangering their lives by travelling to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Agency received 444 stranded Nigerians from Niamey, Niger Republic between February and April 2023