TheCable

Two hundred and sixty-two more Nigerians voluntarily returned home from Libya on Wednesday with the help of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Nigerian embassy in that country.

NAN reports that the returnees arrived aboard a chartered Libyan Airlines aircraft with registration number 5A-LAR, which landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 10pm.

The returnees, who had been stranded in Libya, were made up of 108 males, 135 females, eight children and 11 infants.

They were received by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the police.

Also on ground to receive them were officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

Addressing journalists, Mustapha Maihaja, the director general, NEMA, said the agency in collaboration with the IOM was working to ensure that Nigerians stranded in Libya are brought back home.

The director general who was represented by Suleiman Yakubu, zonal coordinator, South West, NEMA, said both the federal government and state governments had initiated various programmes to rehabilitate and reintegrate the returnees into the society.

He further advised Nigerians, especially the youth, to take advantage of the enormous opportunities available in the country.

NAN reports that thousands of Nigerians have been flown back home from the North African country with the help of the IOM.