By: Admin
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received another batch of 145 stranded Nigerians from Libya.
Alhaji Idris Muhammad, Coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office of NEMA, confirmed the development to newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos after the returnees landed.
He said the Nigerians arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Monday night aboard a chartered Al Buraq Air aircraft with registration number 5A – DMG.
Mohammad said that the Nigerians were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and European Union under the Assisted Voluntary Returnees (AVR) Programme.
“After profiling of the returnees, the analysis of the breakdown indicates that 99 adult males, two male children and five male infants were amongst them.
“The profiling also revealed that 35 adult females and four infant females were also brought back, ” Muhammad said.
The coordinator, while receiving the returnees on behalf of the Federal Government, admonished them to learn lessons from what they had gone through in the volatile North African country.
He urged them to always be ready to make the best use of opportunities abundantly available in Nigeria.
Accordng to him, Nigeria is the best and has opportunities for everyone.
“All you need to do is tap into whatever you want to do and the present government is doing things to encourage the realisation of individual and collective potentials for the development of Nigeria of our dream.
“Make sure you are not left behind in the development of Nigeria,” Muhammad said.
He also advised those still thinking of embarking on such perilous journey through the Mediterranean Sea to Europe to have rethink on their decisions due to the associated risk.
Muhammad said further that the IOM and Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity had jointly opened Migrants Resource Centres to assist potential migrants seeking enquiries about their intended host country.
He said the centres located in Lagos, Abuja and Benin provide information such as the best mode of transportation to use, security situations in the host country as well as job opportunities there to help people make informed decisions.
One of the returnees, Ms Aisha Musa, from Ikire in Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State, while narrating her experience in Libya, said it was worsened by the behaviour of some Nigerians in the country.
The 22-year-old said “the problem there was that Nigerians don’t obey the laws.
“Despite the fact that Libya is facing serious problem, they are very patriotic to their country and will not allow prohibited manners or behaviours in their land.
“Nigerians import alcoholic drinks into the country secretly. Our girls wear skimpy or near nude dresses and all these are not permitted there but they still go out in such dresses.
“Most of our ladies are into prostitution and Nigerians are fully involved in slave trading of their fellow nationals.’’
According to her, some Nigerians who are lucky to be housemaids are also hostile to the children of their bosses and beat the children at any slight provocation.
“Some of the these acts cannot be allowed by any decent society.
“For me, Aisha, “I obeyed their laws. I am happy that I got a very good family that I worked with as housemaid.
“Since the war broke out, the family I worked with have relocated to Turkey. I would have followed them but I didn’t have International Passport,” Musa said.
According to her, she paid N400,000 to her friend who trafficked her to Libya and earned a monthly wage equivalent of N50,000 Nigeria currency.
Musa further stated that her Libyan madam (employer) was like a mother to her during the period she worked with the family.
