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Chibuzor Emejor
The International Organisation for Migration(IOM),has assisted 182 Nigerian migrants, comprising men, women and children to return home from Libya.
The voluntary returnees, landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Tuesday night, aboard a chartered Buraq flight.
Addressing newsmen at the Airport, Mr. Ali Ibrahim, IOM Head of Sub-Office,Lagos, said since the inception of Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration(AVRR) programme in 2017, that over 65,700 Nigerian migrants have been assisted by the United Nations migration agency to return home, in collaboration with the Federal Government of Nigeria and funding support from the European Union.
He revealed that in 2026 alone, a total of 7,825 Nigerians have been assisted to return home under AVRR programme.
Recall that the AVRR programme by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) provides safe, dignified, and rights-based travel and reintegration support.
It is entirely voluntary, offering stranded or irregular migrants a chance to safely return to their home countries and rebuild their lives.
Commenting on the assistance and support given to these migrants by the organisation, Ibrahim said: “We provide them support upon arrival immediately.
“We provide immediate return assistance. This could include screening for health, supporting with psychosocial first aid, and also immediate needs.
“After return, we support them with reintegration assistance. What that means is that we support them to reintegrate back to their communities where they rebuild their lives.
“This could mean many things, like group support, business assistance, assistance with education, and also other needs as they arise.”
The breakdown of the returned migrants shows that adult females are 108, men 45, children 7(girls), 10 boys while among the infants, there are 8 girls and 4 boys, together with two unaccompanied minors.
Giving further breakdown, Ibrahim said: “They are two unaccompanied minors on this flight today.
“They came from Benghazi, and out of the 182, about 50 of them are directly coming from detention centres, while the rest are coming from the city around Benghazi and Libya.”
He stressed the need for people to get right information so as to make right choice before travelling abroad.
According to him, “migration is a choice, and people can make their migration choice.
“What we are trying to promote is that migration choice should be made with right information.
“So as part of this programme, in addition to facilitating the return and reintegration programme, we also promote a safe migration where we support access to the right information so that people can make the right choice to migrate.”
