Early this week, 290 stranded Nigerians in Libya were flown back to their home nation on separate chartered planes.
This was revealed on Monday in a statement from the National Emergency Management Agency.
The returnees were sent back to the country directly from a Libyan prison with assistance from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations (UN) as part of their Migrants’ Protection and Assistance Programme, according to Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, territorial coordinator for NEMA in Lagos State.
The first flight with 161 returns touched down in Nigeria on August 21, 2023, while the second flight carrying 137 people did so on Monday.
On Monday at around 5:38 p.m., an Al Buraq Air Boeing 737-800 with the registration number 5A-DMG arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, carrying the second group of returnees.
According to Farinloye,
“They all returned to the country with sad tales of bitter experiences in Libyan prisons.”
According to Platinum Times, the returnees became stuck in Libya while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.