Two flights of 326 Libyan returnees arrive
Two batches of 326 returnees from Libya arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in the early hours of today and late night on Thursday. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) through its Coordinator for Lagos Territorial office, Idris Muhammed received the voluntary returnees on arrival in two different flights at the Cargo Wing of […]
File photo of Nigerian returnees from Libya.
Two batches of 326 returnees from Libya arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in the early hours of today and late night on Thursday.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) through its Coordinator for Lagos Territorial office, Idris Muhammed received the voluntary returnees on arrival in two different flights at the Cargo Wing of MMIA, Ikeja.
Other agencies of the government including the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced (NCRMI), National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Person (NAPTIP), among others were on ground to coordinate the arrival.
The first flight, it was revealed, arrived with 143 returnees aboard Al Buraq Air Boeing 737-800 with flight number UZ189 and registration number 5A-DMG which landed at 10:20 PM.
The second flight arrived with Nouvelair Air flight UZ 175 and registration number TS-INA with 183 Returnees aboard.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) facilitated the evacuation under its Assisted Voluntary Returnees (AVR) scheme with funding from European Union (EU).
The breakdown of the returnees showed that 291 adults were brought back with eight children and 27 infants.
The NEMA Coordinator advised the youths to desist from embarking on the perilous irregular migration to Libya, urging them to stay back in the country and support FG’s initiatives to rebuild the economy.
The Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mr Daniel Atokolo urged Nigerians to volunteer information that could lead to identification and arrest of traffickers, saying such information would be treated with utmost secrecy to protect the source of the information.