NEMA Receives 105 Nigerians Stranded In Chad

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Kano State has received 105 Nigerians Stranded in Chad.

The Chad returnees were received back into the country from Chad (N’djamena) at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano.

NEMA chapter coordinator, Nurudeen Abdullahi, confirmed this while interacting with reporters at the airport on Wednesday.

He noted that the citizens who had been stranded in foreign countries arrived at the international wing of the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport at about 10 pm onboard a Boeing 737-7k9 ASKY Airlines plane operated by Ethiopian Airlines KP9401 with registration number ET-ANH.

It was gathered that the citizens were repatriated to Nigeria under the care of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) through a voluntary repatriation programme.

According to Abdullahi, the programme was meant for the distressed Nigerians who had left the country to seek greener pastures in various European countries but could not afford to return when their journey became frustrating.

“Those received included 24 male adults, 23 female adults and 58 children (33 females and 25 males). They are from Katsina, Kano, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe and Taraba states, among others,” he explained.

Abdullahi further explained that the returnees would be trained for four days on vocational skills and be given the grant to become self-reliant, urging them to join in the advocacy and sensitisation against irregular migration.

He added that the agency, between May and October 2022, received 560 Nigerians stranded in the Niger Republic and Sudan.

Speaking on his ordeal, one of the returnees, Aminu Musa, who claimed to be an indigene of Kano State said he travelled to Libya to seek greener pastures because he was an orphan and his sick mother could not cater for the family.

“My father died three years ago and things have not been easy for the family, so I decided to seek greener pastures. “During my stay in Libya for two years, my friend that we travelled together was kidnapped.

“We suffered a lot and I decided to go back to Chad because I was scared of being kidnapped too. It was only the grace of God that brought me back,” he said.