Stranded Nigerian migrants return home from Libya

The National Emergency Management Agency has received another batch of Nigerian returnees from Libya.

Mustapha Habib, the Director-General, told local media on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, that 128 persons returned via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

He said they left Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli, Tuesday night.

“They had left the country to seek greener pastures in various European countries but could not afford to return when their journey became frustrated”, Habib said.

The Director-General advised the returnees and others to look beyond seeking a better livelihood outside Nigeria.

He assured them that the Federal Government would provide an enabling environment where citizens would prosper.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) assisted in the voluntary repatriation programme for those in sorrow.

Narrating her ordeal, a returnee, Miss Blessing Muhammad told the Nigerian media, how she came back to life while she was being buried.

She said, “A popular big sister at Akungba approached my mother and convinced her that she would assist me to travel to Europe with the promise that I would be doing my hairdressing work or that of a housemaid to be able to raise money and support my mother and siblings.

“I left Nigeria on January 3, 2016, and the cold was at its peak at that time. I died but resurrected; that is all I can say."

Historically, Nigeria’s migration crisis started with the economic policies of the 1980s, which caused much hardship for people. 

The Structural Adjustment Programme that was meant to help the country recover from its debt-induced development crisis ended up complicating the country’s economic woes, leading to unimaginable hardships with associated unemployment, poverty and corruption. This resulted in large numbers of young men and women seeking better livelihoods abroad.