On Wednesday, a new batch of 143 stranded Nigerian migrants were repatriated home from Libya. They were received by the National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria (NEMA), upon their arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
NEMA is a Nigerian agency set up by the Federal Government, responsible for tackling disaster related issues through the establishment of concrete structures and measures. The Director-General of NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed said the stranded Nigerians arrived at the Cargo Wing of the airport at about 3:18 pm via a Al-Buraq Air Boeing 737-800 flight, with the registration number 5A-DMG.
He said the returnees were returned home by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), through its voluntary repatriation program. The program was meant to repatriate migrants who could not afford to return home, when their journey to Europe became impossible.
Ahmed added that there were 96 males, 36 females, eight boys, and one girl, alongside one female and one male infant. “Among them are a female and a male adult with serious medical issues.” The coordinator did not disclose the nature of their sickness.
Last week, the IOM said that a total of 9,000 migrants, including 656 women and 342 minors were returned to Libya, after being rescued off the country’s coast in 2022.
“In the period of January -June, a total of 9,000 migrants have been disembarked back on Libyan shores,” IOM said in a statement late Monday. The UN agency also added that 156 migrants drowned, and 565 others went missing this year.
In 2021, a total of 32,425 migrants were returned to Libya, 662 died, and 891 others went missing, the IOM revealed.
Libya has been suffering insecurity and chaos since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. This has made the country the preferred point of departure for migrants who want to cross the Mediterranean to European shores.