The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Wednesday received 167 Nigerians returning from Libya at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
The Director-General of the agency, Mustapha Habib, who was represented by the Acting Coordinator of the Lagos Territorial Office of NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye, received the returnees.
According to Habib, the stranded returnees took off on a chartered Buraq Aircraft Boeing 737-800 with registration 5A-DMG on Tuesday night from Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport.
According to him, 167 stranded Nigerians landed in the early hours of Wednesday at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport (MIMIA).
The returnees include 65 female adults, three female children, five female infants, 76 male adults, 11 male children, and seven infant males.
“The returnees were brought back to the country by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) under its voluntary repatriation programme for the distressed.
“They left to seek greener pastures in various European countries but could not afford to return when their journey became frustrated,” he said.
Habib advised the returnees to look beyond seeking greener pastures in foreign lands, saying that these places no longer exist.
He assured them that the Federal Government takes the youths’ aspirations seriously, and it is providing enabling environments where everyone can reach their full potential.
According to him, the exercise was conducted properly under COVID-19 protocols and was supervised by all government agencies at the airport.
The returnees were received at the airport by officials of the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Commission for Resilience, Migration, and Internally Displaced People, NAPTIP, and the Nigerian Immigration Service.