The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, on Thursday received another batch of 160 stranded Nigerians from Libya.
The returnees were received by the Coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office of NEMA, Alhaji Idris Muhammed, at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos.
They were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration, IOM, as part of European Union’s special intervention on Assisted Voluntary Returnees, AVR, Programme.
The returnees arrived Nigeria at about 7:50 p.m. via Nouvelair Airline of Libya.
The returnees were made up of 68 female adults, one female child and five female infants.
Also, there were 79 male adults, two male children and five male infants making up 74 females and 86 males including a psychologically traumatised adult male.
The coordinator, while receiving them implored other Nigerians still aspiring to travel out of the country to desist from irregular migrations.
He said irregular migrations would remove the fundamental rights that such migrants could have enjoyed and as such, expose them to avoidable risks.
One of the stranded Nigerians who returned home, Mrs. Adebisi Komolafe from Osogbo Osun State, said: “I don’t wish any Nigerian should think of travelling to Libya, I never knew the situation in Libya before I left, if I had known, I wouldn’t have travelled there.
“Nigeria is far better than that country. We need prayers and sincerity in Nigeria. I worked as a housemaid and had opportunity to make some money but the lack of government is a serious problem there. I could not send money back home since I left Nigeria in 2016.”
Miss Aisha Ibrahim from Oyo State who was also one of the stranded Nigerians totally regretted her ordeal, saying “in Libya, you don’t have freedom; once they hear you are a Nigerian, trouble starts. They don’t like us.
“If you have travelling documents and you are caught, those documents will not be returned to you and you will be arrested. They can raid your house and cart away all your savings and property.”
