FGN Evacuates 21 Illegal Migrants in Libya
21 illegal immigrants from Nigeria detained in Libyan detention facilities have been removed by the federal government.
This information was released in a statement on Monday in Abuja by Amb. Kabiru Musa, Charge D’Affaires En Titre of the Nigerian Mission in Libya.
In accordance with the Voluntary Humanitarian Repatriation (VHR) exercise, he claimed, the Nigerians are being evacuated back to Nigeria in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Regardless of their immigration status, Musa claimed that the federal government was committed to ensuring the safe return of Nigerians stuck in Libya.
He stated that the evacuated returnees traveling on EgyptAir and Ethiopian Airlines would touch down at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday.
In a joint effort with the Nigerian Embassy in Tripoli, the IOM released the following statement: “On June 19, at the Benghazi International Airport in Libya, aboard commercial Egyptian Airline No. S830 to Cairo, 21 stranded Nigerians were returned through the Voluntary Humanitarian Repatriation (VHR).
Commercial Ethiopian Airlines will transport the returnees on flights number ET453 and ET901 from Cairo to Addis Abeba and from Addis Abeba to Lagos, Nigeria, respectively.
“The Ethiopian airline will depart Addis Ababa on June 20, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. local time, and the Egyptian airline is scheduled to depart Benghazi on June 19, 2023, at 11:10 p.m.
On Tuesday, he stated that the flight will land in Lagos at 12:25 p.m.
The envoy disclosed that the exercise, which involved evacuating around 5000 Nigerians who were stuck in Libya under the VHR, was the seventh voluntary evacuation effort this year.
The statement said, “We are closely collaborating with the Libyan authorities and we appreciate their unwavering support.”
