By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Kano
The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) has received 497 stranded Nigerian migrants evacuated from Niger Republic through the Jibia border corridor.
The returnees arrived aboard a flight from Agadez, Niger Republic, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on Friday at about 12:25pm.
Officials of the commission’s Kano Field Office, alongside representatives of relevant government agencies, received the migrants on arrival.
Speaking during the reception, the Federal Commissioner of the commission, Dr Tijjani Aliyu Ahmed, said the evacuation followed a coordinated humanitarian intervention by the Federal Government in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Represented by the Kano Field Coordinator of the commission, Lubah Liman, the commissioner said the exercise was carried out under the IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme.
He explained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Consular and Migration Affairs Division, had earlier informed the commission of plans to evacuate stranded Nigerians from Agadez between May 22 and 25, 2026.
According to him, the evacuation is being conducted in two batches in collaboration with the IOM and other relevant agencies, adding that the first batch, initially projected at about 600 persons, arrived with 497 returnees.
The exercise involved collaboration with agencies including the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Department of State Services, SEMA and the Nigerian Red Cross Society.
Ahmed said the returnees underwent documentation and MIDAS registration by the Nigeria Immigration Service before being moved to the Immigration Training School in Kano for feeding, profiling and other humanitarian support services.
A breakdown of the returnees showed that 174 were adult males, 97 adult females, 137 male children and 89 female children.
Some of the migrants recounted experiences of hardship while stranded in Agadez and appealed to the federal and state governments, humanitarian organisations and well-meaning Nigerians to assist their reintegration into society.
