The Federal Government has once again received more voluntary returnees from Sudan amid the ongoing crisis in the country.
The voluntary returnees, who arrived via Ethiopian Airlines at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja yesterday, were received by the Federal Commissioner for the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, Tijani Ahmed.
Addressing the press, Ahmed noted that among the returnees were 18 adult females, 5 female minors, 5 adult males, and 7 male minors.
He explained that the 29 returnees are part of 120 Nigerians stranded in war-torn Sudan, with ongoing efforts to bring back the remaining 91.
He said, “We are in receipt of 29 returnees from Sudan out of the 120 that are lying fallow there in Sudan.
“The National Commission for refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons in conjunction with the International Organization for Migration, (IOM), are doing all humanly possible to ensure that these 120 are returned to the country.
The commissioner added that “in the next week, another nine returnees from Sudan will be brought back to Nigeria. Additionally, arrangements are in progress to return 18 other stranded Nigerians from Algeria and 8 from Tunisia.”
Mr. Ahmed further stated that the commission, in partnership with the IOM, has returned over 1,950 Nigerians from various countries from January to date and over 7,000 Nigerians in 2023 alone.
He assured that the federal government, through the commission, will continue to work to ensure that all Nigerians living in despair and willing to come back are returned safely.
“The Commission is also making arrangements to return Nigerians from Cameroon, about 53,000 of them. By the end of June, we hope that many of them will have been returned, in addition to 14,000 Nigerians stranded in Chad,” he added.
One of the returnees, Firdausi Abubakar, said she went to Sudan to visit her aunt but became stranded during the crisis.
“I have longed to come back home, and I feel really happy to have returned to my home country after five years,” she said.
Another returnee, Yahanatu Auwa, prayed for the officials who facilitated their return, saying, “If not for the intervention of the federal government, where would we have accessed a plane to return home?”
