By Chinedu Eze
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has announced that it has received another batch of 171 stranded Nigerian returnees from Libya through the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
NEMA said the returnees arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Cargo Wing on Tuesday via Buraq Airline with registration number 5A-DMG at about 8:25 p.m and flight number UZ589.
The agency disclosed that it profiled the returnees, comprising 70 female adults including pregnant women, 90 male adults, three children and eight infants.
The voluntary returnees were brought from Zintan District of Libya and eight of them have minor health related issues.
The South-west Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, Yakubu Suleiman, in reaction to the hundreds of Nigerians being deported from various parts of the world, urged parents and guardians to desist from encouraging their children or wards from embarking on such perilous journeys of no return “except those that God is merciful withâ€.
While addressing the returnees on their arrival, Suleiman expressed disappointment over parents supporting their children to go outside the country through illegal routes by selling their properties to raise funds for the journey.
“We have been inundated with parents calling that they have lost contact with their children while many would continue to raise money from home and send to children who would have been held captive and must be settled before their children would be set free,†he observed.
The coordinator appealed to the returnees to be anti trafficking champions to disabuse the minds of those still trying to embark on such journey.
“You have seen it all, experience is the best teacher, today, all of you are saying you will never encourage any of your family members to travel outside wasting huge resources through illegal routes despite various risks and dangers you went through. I am begging you to also carry this message to the people you come across in life and share your experiences to discourage young people wasting their energies and productive life in seeking wealth.
