Yemisi Izuora
The National Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday said a total of 611 Nigerians had voluntarily returned from Libya in March.
The South West Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, Alhaji Yakubu Suleiman, made the disclosure while receiving a new set of 166 returnees who arrived from the volatile North African country.
Suleiman noted that the Nigerians were assisted back to the country by the International Organisation for Migration and the European Union.
He said the Federal Government, some state governments and the IOM had set up various schemes to rehabilitate and reintegrate the returnees back into the society.
Suleiman urged the returnees to focus on the task of getting back on their feet and contributing their quota to national development.
He said: “You have seen it all and you are in the best position to sensitise and create awareness against the evils of human trafficking, as you have seen the dangers of seeking greener pastures in foreign lands.”
The returnees arrived aboard a chartered Nouvelair Airbus aircraft with registration number TS-INA.
The aircraft landed at 8.08pm at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The returnees comprised 101 male adults, two male children, 56 female adults, three female children and four female infants.
Officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Police were also on hand to receive them.