Returnee from Libya warns Nigerians against irregular migration

Nigerian returnee, Jubril Bukar, has cautioned Nigerians against embarking on irregular migration to Libya. “I beg Nigerians not to think of travelling to Libya,” he told TVC news.

Bukar, who is from Gwoza, Borno State, Northeast Nigeria, arrived to Lagos from Libya on 24 October. He was among a group of 141 Nigerian migrants who were stranded in Libya and voluntarily returned.

Bukar told journalists that he left Nigeria in 2013 with the hope of reaching Germany after a Boko Haram insurgent attack in which his parents were killed in front of him. He had planned to cross the Mediterranean Sea irregularly but ended up staying in Libya. 

“I have returned to Nigeria with nothing, but I can say I am a professional, as I have learned plumbing works and other handwork,” said Bukar. 

“I had a wife and four children before I left Nigeria, but now I have lost two children. My wife cannot be located. One of my children is said to be in Lokoja and another at Kaduna,” the returnee told reporters.

The recent batch of 141 migrants from Libya was received by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The group included 42 women, 55 men, 33 children and 11 infants. 

At least 15,000 of Nigerians stranded in Libya have returned home as part of a reintegration and rehabilitation programme funded by the Government of Nigeria and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). 

For years, Libya has become a transit country for thousands of migrants attempting to reach Europe through irregular migration. In September, the Libyan government called for global support for around 707,000 irregular migrants currently in Libya. 

TMP – 07/11/2019

Photo credit: DisIsAfrica website. Photo caption: Some Nigerians who were stranded in Libya.