THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received 105 stranded Nigerians from Chad.
The returnees were received at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, on Tuesday, December 13.
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NEMA Coordinator, Kano Territorial Office, Dr. Nuradeen Abdullahi, who disclosed the development, said the Nigerians arrived at the international wing of the airport at about 10:00 pm on board a Boeing 737-7K9 ASKY Airlines flight, operated by Ethiopian Airlines KP9 401, with registration number ET-ANH.
“The returnees were brought back to Kano under the care of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), from N’djamena through a voluntary repatriation program.
“The program is meant for distressed Nigerians who left the country to seek greener pastures in various European countries but can’t afford to return when their journey became frustrating.
“Those received included 24 male adults, 23 female adults, and 58 children (33 females and 25 males). They are from Katsina, Kano, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, and Taraba States among others,” he said.
Abdullahi added that the returnees will undergo a four-day vocational skills training, after which they will be provided with grants to become self-reliant.
He urged them to be advocates of the campaign against irregular migration.
The NEMA coordinator noted that the agency, between May and October 2022, received 560 stranded Nigerians from Agades, Niger Republic, and Sudan.
He advised Nigerians to avoid endangering their lives by traveling to seek greener pastures in other countries, noting that no country is better than Nigeria.
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) had expressed concern over the alarming rate of emigration of Nigerians to foreign countries, describing it as a ‘worrisome phenomenon’.
The ICIR also reported that Nigeria has the largest number of migrants to the United Kingdom (UK), in the year ending June 2022 and has become the third-largest nationality group in the country.