198 Nigerians deported by Saudi Arabia arrive home
- The deportees were led back home by Mohammed Yahaya-Sani, the Consular at the Nigerian Consulate in Jedda, Saudi Arabia
- The illegal immigrants were recieved by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Kano
- The deportees voluntarily returned to Nigeria after receiving a three-month notice to leave Saudi Arabia
The Federal Government on Saturday received no fewer than 198 Nigerians illegally residing in Saudi Arabia at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport at about 10 am.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this number was out of the 1,800 Nigerians living illegally in Saudi Arabia, who were given amnesty to return to the country.
NAN reports that the 198 persons including women and children returned with their luggage on board a Med-View aircraft.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Kano received the first batch of the returnees.
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Mohammed Yahaya-Sani, the Consular at the Nigerian Consulate in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, who led the illegal immigrants to Nigeria, told newsmen at the airport that the Federal Government sponsored their return.
According to him, the illegal migrants voluntarily reported to the Nigerian Embassy to be returned to Nigeria in compliance with the three months evacuation notice issued to them by Saudi authorities, which will expire on July 24.
Yahaya-Sani said that contrary to speculations, the returnees were not deported rather they voluntarily accepted the amnesty offer granted them by the Saudi authorities for illegal immigrants to leave the country.
“They decided on their own to return to Nigeria. The Saudi authorities offered amnesty to all illegal immigrants to leave the country within three months,” he said.
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The official handed over the returnees to NEMA officials at the airport who witnessed and documented their returns before they later departed to their various towns and villages.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported recently that not less than 1,134 Nigerians were deported from about 9 different countries.
According to statistics released by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other related offences, 1,134 Nigerians were deported for various immigration offences in three months.
Legit.ng gathered that the statistics covered February to April, 2017.
The agency said the offences included human trafficking, smuggling of migrants and non-possession of valid travel documents.
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Source: Legit.ng
