SAN FRANCISCO, February 01, (THEWILL) – Forty-one Nigerians, comprising 33 males and eight females have arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos on Wednesday morning as they were deported from the United Kingdom.
This was confirmed by Alhaji Muhammad Sidi, Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) who stated that the 41 Nigerians were deported for various immigration offences.
He disclosed that the deportees arrived the country aboard a chartered aircraft at about 8:00 a.m and landed at the cargo terminal of the airport.
“From the manifest with me, 41 Nigerians are on board and according to the British High Commission in Nigeria, they were deported because they committed various immigration offences,” he told NAN represented by Dr Onimode Bandele, the Deputy Director, Search and Rescue in the agency.
“As a responsible government, we cannot just leave our citizens to enter the country without giving them a good welcome.
“Also, we want to let them know that the country they left years ago, is different from what they are returning to.”
He stressed that Nigeria had moved ahead since the deportees left the country, adding that everybody has equal opportunities under the present government and advised Nigerians to stay in the country and develop it.
He, however, said that some stipends would be given to the deportees, to facilitate their transportation to their various destinations.
Other agencies who were at the airport to receive the deportees included officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigeria Immigration Service.
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