THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received 542 stranded Nigerians from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
This was contained in a statement by the agency on Sunday.
According to the statement, the returnees, consisting of 79 men, 460 women and three children, were received on Sunday morning at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
They were received by officials of NEMA and other government agencies that included the National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, the Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigerian Customs Service and Port Health Services.
“On arrival, the returnees were screened by the health officials, profiled by various relevant agencies and cleared by the Nigerian Immigration Service before being given a token of transport fare by NEMA before leaving the airport,” the statement read.
The Director-General, NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, who led the delegation that received the returnees, urged them to learn from previous mistakes, remain law-abiding citizens and promote economic growth in Nigeria.
“The NEMA boss, who was represented by the Director of Finance and Accounts Alhaji Sani Ahmed Jiba, said the Federal Government had approved the evacuation and provision of the token for the returnees to support their local movement back home,” the statement read.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.