An aircraft carrying 257 Nigerians landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos earlier today (Wednesday December 6, 2017) according to the spokesperson for the Lagos Airport Police Command, Mr. Joseph Alabi. He said the returnees arrived aboard a Libyan Airlines aircraft at the Cargo Wing of the airport at about 1.30 a.m.
It was gathered that they were assisted back to Nigeria by the International Organisation for Migration and the European Union (EU) after being stranded in the volatile North African country en-route Europe. Alabi said, “We received another batch of Nigerians early this morning from Libya. They comprised of 65 adult females, 179 adult males, seven children and six infants.”
He also confirmed that four of the returnees had medical cases and were promptly taken away on an ambulance for treatment. According to him, the returnees were received by officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA); Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS); the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTP) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Recall that another set of 144 Nigerians had arrived on Tuesday at about 6.45 p.m. aboard a chartered Buraq Airlines aircraft with registration number 5A-DMG.
They were received at the Hajj Camp area of the airport by the Wife of the President, Haija Aisha Buhari, represented by the Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode. Also on the ground to receive them was the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa and officials of other government agencies. The Federal Government said it has a record of 2,778 Nigerian migrants registered in “accessible” detention camps in Libya, ready for repatriation.
The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement signed by the Spokesperson, Mr. Tiwatope Elias-Fatile, on Tuesday said the country’s embassy in Libya had been visiting detention camps to identify Nigerians for registration. The ministry stated that those registered were issued Emergency Travel Certificates. The ministry also explained that the embassy, in collaboration with the IOM, repatriates 250 migrants weekly and had returned 3,000 of them so far.