Tension showed clearly on the faces of 41 Nigerians deported from the United Kingdom on Wednesday. The deportees were very aggressive and refused to interact with newsmen. They screamed intermittently that they were deported unjustly.
Some of them who refused to be identified said; “We were not even given any chance to pick any of our possession. ‘’This is inhuman and our government will surely not do anything about it. We know them.” The 41 Nigerians were deported from the United Kingdom allegedly for various immigration offences. They arrived at the cargo terminal of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos in a chartered Air bus 330 aircraft which touched ground at about 7:40 am.
They were made up of 33 males and eight females and were said to have been living illegally in the UK as their visas had expired. Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Nigerian Air Force, NAF, police men and aviation security personnel were on ground to receive and profile them.
The spokesperson for the NEMA, South-West Zone, Ibrahim Farinloye on Tuesday said the agency was expecting 83 Nigerian deportees from the United Kingdom Farinloye said: “We were informed that 83 Nigerians would be deported from the United Kingdom on Wednesday morning. Some of the people affected are those who haven’t completed their prison sentences.
They would be taken to Nigerian prisons to complete their terms. Although we cannot tell the various offences, we believe they could be drug-related and immigration problems. “We expect that when they arrive in the country, we would be able to know the real reason for their deportation. The aircraft is expected to arrive in the country at 5am at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.”
However, Farinloye told Vanguard yesterday evening on telephone that none of those brought yesterday was serving jail sentence while in the UK. He also confirmed that the returnees had been dispersed to their various communities.
NEMA Director-General, Mohammed Sidi, represented by the Deputy Director, Search and Rescue, Dr. Abdullahi Onimode, said the deportees were given a ‘token’ to go back to their respective destinations. He also advised those leaving the country in search of greener pastures to have a rethink and stay in the country to develop it.
In his speech at the occasion, the NEMA boss said; “We are here this morning to receive Nigerians that have been brought back by authorities of the United Kingdom. ”We are giving them some stipends. We need to talk to them, counsel them and let them realize that the country they left some years ago is not the same country they are meeting today, we have moved ahead and everybody has equal opportunity in the present day government to be the best you can be.
“Whatever your trade, ensure that you carve a niche for yourself. Where we tend to go to for greener pastures after all were developed by their own persons. So we should be able to proudly stay back here in Nigeria and ensure that we develop our own country.”
The deportees were then driven away in a bus from the airport after their profiling by the immigration officials. – VANGUARD
