Egyptian authorities have said that seven out of the eight Nigerians who embarked on #ENDSARS protest in Egypt on October 18 will be deported to Nigeria for lack of resident permits or visas.
The Chairman/CEO Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who has been following the matter, confirmed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
She said the only Nigerian among them who has residency permit would get final clearance from the Egyptian Interior Minister, Mahmoud Tawfik, after signing an undertaking not to be involved in any unauthorised activities while still in the country.
She explained that the Nigerian mission in Egypt was still pleading for leniency on behalf of the seven Nigerians slated for deportation.
The NIDCOM boss, however, denied the allegation that the federal government of Nigeria was involved in the Nigerians’ arrest.
She added that the Nigerians were not arrested at the Nigerian Embassy but at another location.
“The Nigerian mission in Cairo has had extensive deliberations with the Cairo Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Interior as well as the Diplomatic Police, adding that the eight detained Nigerians – four men and four women – were assured of decent treatment while in detention.
Dabiri-Erewa reiterated her appeals to Nigerians abroad to be good ambassadors of the country by being law abiding to the laws of their respective host countries.
She commended Nigerians in diaspora who had conducted themselves in a disciplined and peaceful manner during their protest for an end to police brutality in Nigeria, reiterating the president ’s commitment to implementing the five point demand, and urged Nigerian youths to embrace dialogue as their voices could definitely not be ignored.
