A total of 403 Nigerians including children who were stranded in Niger Republic have returned to the country.
Speaking during their reception at the Nigeria Immigration Service Training School in Kano at the weekend, the federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Hon. Aliyu Tijani said the returnees comprises of 52 households including 165 males, 56 females as well as 182 children and infants.
Represented by the commission’s State Coordinator, Mrs. Lubah Liman, the Commissioner said the second batch of 392 returnees voluntarily returned on Saturday following the arrival of the first batch of 11 others that returned on Tuesday, 17th December 2024.
According to Tijani, the success of the humanitarian return was carried out through a coordinated multi-agency effort jointly organised by the Nigerian Mission in Niamey and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
While reiterating the federal government’s commitment to reintegrating the returnees into various government programmes under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, he said the ongoing effort reflects government’s determination at ensuring safe and dignified return of Nigerians stranded abroad.
Hon. Tijani however noted that upon arrival, the returnees were profiled by officers from NCFRMI and the Immigrations while representatives from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the Department of State Security (DSS), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and the Kano State Emergency Management Agency were on ground to provide additional support.
He commended the collaboration among the participating agencies, noting that it has yielded.