The Federal Government on Monday said it evacuated 1,030 stranded Nigerian migrants from Libya between Jan. 7 and Jan 8, 2018. Alhaji Mustapha Maihaja, the Director-General of National Emergency Management Agency, disclosed this at a joint news conference by the Federal Government delegation to Libya. Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, had on Jan. 5 led a delegation on fact finding mission to Libya to secure the release of Nigerian migrants stranded in that country.
The delegation comprised of Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and Muhammad Babandede, Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service. Others were Julie Okah-Donli, Director General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Sadiya Umar-Faruq, Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees. Maihaja told newsmen that the returnees were 485 who came back on Sunday and 545 who came back of Monday, noting that they were part of the 5,037 stranded Nigerians identified for evacuation back home.
He stated that a reception centre approved by President Muhammadu Buhari had been set up in Port Harcourt, Rivers for the returnees. According to him, the returnees on arrival will be formally received and profiled before being transported to their various states. He said that the reception centre was organised in such a way that the Ministry of Health provided facilities to look after those with health-related problems. He explained that those who were critically ill were taken to University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital for treatment.
He added that the returnees would be profiled through the Immigration, Directorate of State Service and other agencies, emphasising that those with criminal tendencies and ISIS inclination would be taken care of by relevant agencies.
Maihaja said the delegation had 21 days to complete its operation. The Foreign Affairs Minister also said the delegation was in Libya to engage with Libyan Government at the highest level to facilitate the evacuation of the stranded Nigerian migrants from the North African country. Onyeama said the Nigerian mission in Libya was coordinating the identification of the Nigerian migrants with the support of International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
(Vanguard)
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