Almost 16,000 Nigerians returned from sixteen countries since April 2017

A total of 15,731 Nigerians have been returned from sixteen countries since April 2017, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Thirty one of the total returned men suffered from torture, as well as 21 women. Seventy nine men and 31 women of the 15,731 were kidnapped out of Nigeria. There were 439 pregnant women returned. Out of all of the returnees, 1,396 had various medical issues upon return (592 men and 804 women) and 993 have psychosocial needs upon return (523 men and 470 women). 

These figures were provided by Ibrahim Farinloye, Acting Coordinator of NEMA Lagos Territorial Office, upon the arrival of 168 Nigerian migrants from Libya on 6 December 2019.

According to Farinloye, most of the returnees came from Libya, with 13,884; 1,599 came from Niger; 79 came from Morocco; 24 from Burkina Faso; 12 from Liberia; four from France; three from Chad; two from Cote D’Ivoire; and one each from Ireland, Poland, Austria, The Gambia, Mauritania and Ethiopia. Adult men formed 54 per cent of the group and adult women formed 37 per cent, while minors formed another eight per cent. 

The acting Coordinator of NEMA Lagos Territorial Office also gave a breakdown of the states of origin of the returned migrants: “Edo State topped the list with 40.6 per cent; Delta with 13.3 per cent; Ogun with 6.2 per cent;  Imo with 4.7 per cent; Lagos with 4.3 per cent; Oyo with 4.1 per cent; Yobe 3.6 per cent; Kano with 3.1 per cent and Osun with 2.9 per cent, while other states completed the rest.”

NEMA has welcomed thousands back to Nigeria as part of the Special Assisted Voluntary Repatriation Programme, a joint initiative between the Government of Nigeria and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

TMP 12/12/2019

Photo credit: Tayvay/Shutterstock

Photo caption: Abuja, FCT Nigeria- October 4, 2019: Cross section of Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport Abuja at night – Image