- The returnees who arrived in the country included 14 males, 110 females, 23 children, and 8 infants
- The reception exercise took place at the Cargo terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport
No fewer than 155 Nigerian migrants in Libya were airlifted back to Nigeria on Tuesday.
According to Alexander Oturu, the South West Zonal Coordinator of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons Returnees, the returnees who arrived in the country included 14 males, 110 females, 23 children, and 8 infants.
He stated, “On Tuesday, September 19, 2023, in a coordinated all-of-government approach, the Federal Government facilitated the reception of 155 Nigerian migrants returned from Libya by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
“The reception exercise took place at the Cargo terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, in Lagos, South-West Nigeria.”
Representing the Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), the Southwest Zonal Coordinator, Mr Alexander Oturu, spoke on behalf of the Federal Commissioner, Mr Aliyu Tijani Ahmed, and lauded the seamless collaboration between the various government and non-governmental agencies involved in the exercise.
He further stated that the returnees would be integrated into the programmes of the Commission and other reintegration actors.
The migrants were conveyed to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) camp, where the NCFRMI and IOM have a tripartite agreement to provide temporary shelter for the returnees before they are provided with an onward transportation allowance to enable them to get to their final destination.
Officers from the NCFRMI and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) profiled the migrants. Officers from Port Health, FAAN, the Federal Ministry of Labour (Migrants Resource Centre), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the Child Protection Network, and the Web of Hearts Foundation were also in attendance to provide assistance.