FG repatriates 104 Nigerians stranded in Republic of Chad

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says about 104 stranded Nigerians have been repatriated from N’Djamena, capital of the Chad Republic.

Speaking while receiving the returnees on Tuesday at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Nurudeen Abdullahi, NEMA coordinator in the state, said the repatriated citizens arrived in Nigeria at about 2:15 pm.

Abdullahi who was represented by Suleiman Sa’ad-Abubakar, the agency’s head of human resources, said the returnees were 34 males, 18 females and 52 children.

He said the evacuated citizens are from Kano, Katsina, Borno, Akwa Ibom and Yobe states.

“The returnees were brought back under the care of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) from N’Djamena through a voluntary repatriation programme,” NAN quoted Abdullahi as saying.

“The programme is for the distressed who had left the country to seek greener pasture in European countries and could not afford to return when their journey became frustrated.”

The NEMA coordinator said the returnees would be engaged in skills acquisition programmes for quick integration into society.

He urged members of the public to stop illegal migration and avoid exposing their lives to danger while searching for greener pastures

Meanwhile, TheCable had earlier reported that about 151 stranded Nigerians were returned from Benghazi in Libya on March 28, while additional 128 illegal Nigerian migrants were repatriated from Tripoli, the country’s capital two days later.