162 illegal Nigerian migrants repatriated from Libya

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), working on its  voluntary repatriation programme, has facilitated the return of 162 illegal migrants from Nigeria trapped in Libya to the country.

The unlucky migrants en route Europe through Libya, touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, in early hours of Wednesday. The aircraft that conveyed them back home departed Tripoli, Libya, at about 22.10pm on Tuesday night and arrived the MMIA at about 2.10am on Wednesday.

The returning migrants were evacuated from Libya by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The voluntary repatriation programme of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) assists migrants who departed Nigeria in search of greener pasture in European countries but were frustrated on the way and find it difficult to return home.

The IOM has since 2017 assisted over 22,000 stranded Nigerians to return to the country.

Meanwhile, the returnee 162 migrants were received at the airport by officials of the Port Health Unit of the Federal Ministry of Health, National Commission for Resilience, Migration, and IDPs; Nigerian Immigration Services, and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The 162 returnees were classified to include 98 adult females, 28 adult males, 19 female children, five male children, nine female infants and three persons are male infants.