The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Thursday received another batch of Nigerians from Libya barely three days after a similar number came back from the volatile North African country.
Confirming the development, the Coordinator, NEMA Lagos Territorial Office, Alhaji Idris Muhammed, who received the new returnees, said that the 161 returnees were brought back from Sabha, a city about 774 kilometres from Tripoli, the Libyan Capital.
While adding that the Al Buraq Air with Flight No UZ389/03 and Registration No 5A-WAC arrived the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at about 4:10 p.m.
“The breakdown of the returnees after profiling, indicated that there were 62 female adults, 18 female children and 11 female infants along with 48 male adults, 14 male children and eight male infants.
“They were brought back to Nigeria under the Voluntary Assisted Repatriation by the International Organisation for Migration and special assistance by the European Union.
“This batch has brought the total number of Libyan-distressed Nigerian returnees to 322 within 72 hours,’’ Muhammed said.
The returnees pleaded that government should find a way to block the exit routes of irregular migrations, saying that many Nigerians had refused to learn from the narratives of those of them that returned.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other agencies that received the returnees include, the Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.
