IOM facilitates return of 182 Nigerian migrants

LAGOS – The International Organization for Migration (IOM), under its Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme, has facilitated the return of 182 irregular Nigerian migrants.

The returnees comprise 108 adult males and 45 adult females, bringing the total number of adults to 153.
Also among them are 10 male children and seven female children, making a total of 17 children, as well as eight female infants and four male infants, totalling 12 infants.

In all, there are 123 females and 59 males, including two unaccompanied children.

The returned migrants arrived at the cargo wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday aboard a chartered flight marked Buraq 5A-BAE.

The returnees were received by officials of IOM led by the Head of IOM Sub-Office for the South Region, Alik Ibrahim, with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), who immediately conveyed them to the immigration post at the airport for profiling before being taken to the transit centre, where they will be accommodated pending efforts to trace and reunite them with their immediate family members.

Ibrahim said that the return was facilitated through collaboration between the Federal Government, the European Union through IOM.

According to him, the 182 returnees brought to 65,700 the number of migrants assisted under the AVRR programme since its inception in 2017.

Speaking to newsmen at the airport, Ibrahim said the returnees on arrival received reception support, screening, and counselling, while eligible persons among them would receive assistance to enable them to reintegrate into society and rebuild their lives.

He described the return process as a “pathway to recovery.”