The Federal Government has revealed that a total of 109 Nigerian returnees who were stranded in Niger Republic during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown have been repatriated into the country.
Honourable Federal Commissioner for National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Senator Garba Mohammed, made this known, on Thursday, in Abuja, while briefing newsmen on 2020 annual migration dialogue.
He said the repatriation was done in collaboration with International Organization on Migration (IOM), making sure that COVID-19 protocol was observed and that the returnees after receiving them at the Airport, were quarantined for the period of two weeks.
Another 195 stranded Nigerians return from Libya
Mohammed said the Federal Government gave them some support before reunited with their families.
He said the theme of the dialogue this year, entitled “Providing protection and assistance to migrants during and post-pandemic: strategies and actions”, was apt, saying the theme was coined against the backdrop of the Global Pandemic that has affected the entire world.
He said: “As you are aware COVID-19 has affected the entire world, it has impacted the global health of citizens across the world, impacted on the economy and on social interactions occasioned by the lockdown.
“The fact remains that the most impacted people have been our Persons of Concerns of which Migrants make up a huge number, so it is only appropriate that going forward we discuss and come up with strategies on how to address issues concerning migrants in Nigeria.
153 Stranded Nigerians Return From Libya
“The Refugee Commission, IOM and other relevant stakeholders in the migration space will ensure that existing mechanisms that will foster access to healthcare, human rights and social protection for migrants in Nigeria as provided in the Global Compact on migration and the framework for its national implementation are effectively looked into,” he said.
Mohammed added that the agency mandated by the government of Nigeria for the care and maintenance of Persons of Concerns PoCs, the Refugee Commission ensured that national food drives were held around the country to ease the burden of accessing food during the lockdown and that PoCs in Abuja, Benue, Kwara, Borno, Zamfara, Katsina and Cross River States benefited from food palliatives.
Other assistance provided to PoCs during the lockdown also included medicines, hygiene items and surgical face masks all within the framework of best practices of migration management in Nigeria.
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