The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received 146 stranded Nigerians from Niamey, Niger Republic.
NEMA’s co-coordinator in Kano Territorial Office, Nuraddeen Abdullahi, revealed this on Wednesday, July 12, when he received the returnees at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
Abdullahi said the Nigerians returned through a voluntary repatriation programme under the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) supervision.
He said: “The returnees comprised 56 male adults, 39 female adults and 51 children ( 35 female and 16 male) from different states of Nigeria, particularly Katsina, Kano, Adamawa, Lagos, Imo, Enugu, Edo, among others.
“The returnees would undergo training for three days on how to achieve self-sustainability and would be provided with seed capital to enable them to become self-reliant.”
In his advice to Nigerian youths, the coordinator urged them to avoid embarking on dangerous trips abroad in search of greener pastures available at home.
His words:
“There is no country better than Nigeria as there are ample opportunities for all of us to thrive and live happily.
“If they must travel abroad, they should do so legally and through the proper channels to avoid falling prey to human traffickers and other forms of exploitation.
One of the returnees, Emeka Njoku from Imo, recounting his horrible experience, said he travelled to Tunisia four months ago to seek greener pastures.
Njoku narrated: “On reaching Tunisia, I really suffered. I will never advise anyone to think of travelling out of the country to seek greener pastures this way.
“Nigeria is a sweet country because you have the freedom to move about.”
