….Envoy warns against Irregular Migration
No fewer than 122 Nigerian citizens stranded in Libya have been evacuated.
The 122 evacuees, comprise 52 males, 39 females (seven of whom were rescued victims of human trafficking), 21 children as well as 10 infants.
This brings to about 1,350 stranded Nigerian nationals that have been assisted to return home in 2024 alone.
No fewer than 2,041 stranded Nigerian migrants were assisted to return home by the IOM in 2023.
The evacuees departed at about 1.30pm, Libyan local time, airlifted from Mitiga International Airport aboard chartered flight. They were expected at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos,at 5 pm, Nigeria time.
According to official sources, Tuesday’s evacuation, conducted in collaboration with the IOM in Libya as part of its Voluntary Humanitarian Repatriation (VHR) programme,was the ninth carried out by the Nigerian Mission in the country this year.
Speaking in Tripoli, Libya, during the evacuation, Nigeria’s newly-posted Charge’ d’Affaires en-titre to Libya, Amb. Mohammed Mohammed urged Nigerians to shun irregular migrations to foreign lands.
Mohammed warned that most of such irregular migrations usually end up in slavery and sexual exploitations in Europe.
The envoy said that migrations that follow due process are allowed, but advised Nigerians to always ponder well before embarking on the risk of the ill-advised journey across the desert.
The Head of the Nigerian Mission who recently assumed duty after receiving his Letter of posting following his appointment by President Bola Tinubu, thanked the Libyan authorities and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for the various roles they played in facilitating the release of some of the Nigerian migrants in detention facilities in the country and aiding their smooth repatriation to Nigeria.
