- More Nigerians are returning from Libya on a daily basis
- The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is taking stock of the returnees
- The agency says a total of 1,317 Nigerians have voluntarily returned from Libya in the last 10 days
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says a total of 1,317 Nigerians have voluntarily returned from Libya in the last 10 days having been stranded in the volatile country enroute Europe.
The Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Mustapha Maihajja, made the disclosure while receiving a fresh batch of 116 Nigerians who arrived the country early this morning, Friday, December 15.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new set of returnees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos aboard a Buraq Airlines with Registration Number 5A-WAC at about 5.39a.m.
The returnees are coming back with tales of woes for their failed adventure. Source: Twitter
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No fewer than 3,000 Nigerians have voluntarily returned from Libya through the IOM supported programme in the last few months.
Maihajja, represented by Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu, the South-west zonal coordinator, said that the Nigerians returned in various batches between December 5 and 15 with the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the European Union (EU).
According to him, the figure has already surpassed the 1, 295 Nigerians who voluntarily returned from Libya in the month of November.
Maihajja said that the Federal Government would continue to work with the international organisations to ensure the return of more Nigerians from Libya where they had been facing severe hardships and rights violations.
They comprised 46 adult females, 60 adult males and 10 children and infants respectively.
Also, on ground to welcome the returnees were officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Police. (NAN)
Meanwhile, Nigeria's former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has blamed the failure of African leaders for the slave trade in Libya.
Obasanjo made the statement on Thursday, December 8, while speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Annual Conference of the Comptroller General of Immigration of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) held at Abeokuta, Ogun state.
The former president described the condition faced by some Nigerian youths in Libya as dehumanizing, adding that the occurrence in Libya ought to be condemned as a failure of leadership at all levels.
READ ALSO: Emotional moments as Nigerian migrants from Libya reunite with family members in Edo (photos)
Nigerians speak on slavery in Libya on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng