It was learnt that the Nigerian nationals decided to return home from Libya after their attempts to cross to Europe from the country failed.
Barely two months after 241 Nigerians voluntarily returned from Libya, another 152 Nigerians left the North African country and returned to Nigeria on Monday.
It was learnt that the Nigerian nationals decided to return home from Libya after their attempts to cross to Europe from the country failed.
The returnees were brought back into the country by Libya Airlines with the registration number 5A-LAT, which touched down on the runway of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos at exactly 3:57pm.
The returnees comprised males, females and children. As at the time of filing this report, the returnees were still being profiled by different security agencies.
No fewer than two of the returnees came back into Nigeria with health related issues and were stretchered out of the aircraft into a waiting ambulance.
Apart from immigration offenses, it was learnt that some of them committed criminal offenses in Libya, which could lead to their further prosecution in Nigeria.
Officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Department of State Security Service (DSS), Nigerian Police, Aviation Security (AVSEC), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Port Health from the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Agency against Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIPs) were on ground to receive the returnees.
After going through preliminary immigration processes at the airport, the returnees were then driven to the cargo terminal of the airport for further profiling.
An official with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) told our correspondent that the returnees were brought back into the country in conjunction with the Libyan government after most of them were stranded in the North African country.
It was gathered that the returnees would be given stipends to transport themselves to their destinations after going through the immigration process, while those with criminal records would be detained at various security agencies.
It would be recalled that at least 575 Nigerians had returned to Nigeria from Libya since March this year.
The last set of returnees, numbering 241, was in August. The head of the Lagos office of the IOM, Dr. Nahashon Thuo had told journalists then that 241 returnees decided to return to the country voluntarily.
