The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received 708 stranded Nigerians repatriated from Niamey, Niger Republic.
The Head of Operations, NEMA Kano Office, Dr Nura Abdullahi, disclosed this while briefing journalists on Monday after the returnees arrived at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport for profiling.
The returnees arrived at about 4:08 p.m. in 12 buses and were undergoing physical verification at the time of filing this report.
The returnees comprised 292 male adults and children, and 416 female adults and children from various states including Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Benue, Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kogi and Niger.
Abdullahi said the evacuation was facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He added that the returnees had been provided with food and temporary shelter, along with relief materials such as blankets, mosquito nets and dignity kits containing toiletries, wrappers and sanitary pads.
“By tomorrow morning, after necessary profiling, they will be transported to their respective states,” he said.
He further stated that medical personnel from the Nigerian Red Cross were on ground to attend to the sick, while severe cases would be referred to appropriate health facilities.
Abdullahi advised Nigerians, particularly youths, to avoid irregular migration in search of better opportunities abroad, warning that such journeys often expose them to danger.
Also speaking, the Kano Field Coordinator of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Hajiya Luba Liman, described the evacuation as a “whole-of-government approach.”
She explained that the exercise was facilitated by the Federal Government in collaboration with the Nigerian Embassy in Niamey and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“This is a voluntary return. Many of them could not afford to come back on their own, so the government arranged for their evacuation,” Liman said.
One of the returnees, Malam Kamalu Abdullahi from Kaduna State, said he had lived in Niamey for 12 years before violence forced him to flee.
“I woke up one morning hearing people shouting ‘fire, fire’. My house and those of other Nigerians were set ablaze. When I came out, I was attacked and told to leave the country,” he recounted.
Another returnee, Rabi’a Inusa, a mother of three from Jigawa State, said she travelled to Niamey due to family challenges but faced severe hardship.
“I was sleeping on the streets and later taken to a camp for voluntary returnees. I spent over N100,000 on transport to Niamey and returned home with nothing,” she said.
NAN reports that many of the returnees, mostly women and children, appeared distressed and unkempt on arrival.
Officials of NEMA, NCFRMI, Kano State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the Nigeria Immigration Service and other stakeholders were present to receive the returnees.
