The National Emergency Management Agency on Monday received 708 stranded Nigerians from Niamey, Niger Republic.

NEMA’s head of operations in Kano, Nura Abdullahi, announced this while briefing journalists, shortly after receiving the returnees at the Malam  Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano for profiling.

The returnees, who arrived in 12 buses, arrived at about 4:08 p.m. and are currently undergoing physical verification.

The returnees comprised 292 male adults and children, and 416 female adults and children, from different parts of Nigeria, particularly Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Benue, Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kogi, and Niger.

Mr Abdullahi said the returnees were brought back by the foreign affairs ministry. He said the returnees have been fed and that arrangements had been made for temporary shelter.

“They have also been given blankets, mosquito nets and dignity kits containing toiletries, wrappers, sanitary pads and other essentials.

“By tomorrow morning, after necessary profiling, they will be transported to their respective states,” Mr Abdullahi said.

He noted that medical personnel from the Nigerian Red Cross were on the ground to provide treatment to sick returnees, while severe cases would be referred to appropriate state health facilities.

He advised the general public and Nigerian youths to avoid endangering their lives by travelling abroad in search of greener pastures.

The Kano field coordinator of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Luba Liman, described the exercise as a “whole-of-government approach” to evacuate stranded Nigerians.

She said the evacuation was facilitated by the Nigerian government in collaboration with the Nigerian embassy in Niamey and the foreign affairs ministry.

“This is a voluntary return. Many of them could not afford to come back on their own, so the government arranged for their evacuation,” Mr Liman said.

Recounting their ordeals, one of the returnees, Malam Kamalu Abdullahi from Kaduna State, said he had lived in Niamey for 12 years before violence forced him to flee.

“I woke up one morning , hearing people shouting ‘fire, fire’. My house and those of other Nigerians were set ablaze. When I came out, I was attacked and told to leave the country,” he said.

He commended the federal government for providing shelter and facilitating their return to Nigeria, stressing that he would not return to Niger, even if offered financial incentives.

Rabi’a Inusa, a mother of three from Jigawa, said family challenges pushed her into travelling to Niamey with two of her children, where she spent five months in hardship.

“My husband in Nigeria sold our house and threw my belongings on the street. I decided to travel to Algeria to seek greener pastures, rent a house in Nigeria, and provide for my children.

“I was sleeping on the streets. I was directed to a camp for voluntary returnees. I spent over N100,000 on transport when I was travelling to Niamey and returned home with nothing,” Ms Inusa said.

Many of the returnees, mostly women and children, appeared unkempt and distressed on arrival.

(NAN)