Nigeria Evacuates 102 Citizens Stranded in Libya

By Xinhua 

June 26, 2023

Migrants are rescued by the Libyan Coast Guard in Tripoli, Libya, Nov. 29, 2019. The Libyan Coast Guard on Friday rescued more than 200 migrants off the country's western coast, the International Organization for Migration in Libya (IOM Libya) said. Libya has become a preferred departure point for migrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe due to the insecurity and chaos in the North African country following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua)

The Nigerian government announced Wednesday that it has evacuated 102 Nigerians who were victims of human trafficking and stranded in Libya.

Mustapha Ahmed, director general of the National Emergency Management Agency, said in a statement that those evacuated arrived Tuesday evening at the international airport in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, on a commercial flight.

Ahmed said 96 of the 102 returnees are females, two are males, and four are infants.

“The federal government was dedicated to safeguarding the safety of Nigerian nationals wherever they found themselves,” said Ahmed.

According to reports by Nigerian media Wednesday, the evacuation was done with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). An official with the Nigerian Embassy in Libya was quoted as saying that the evacuated Nigerians were “irregular migrants” who were released from detention facilities in Libya.

They are being evacuated under the voluntary humanitarian repatriation program of the IOM, said the official, adding that the Nigerian government is working together with relevant authorities to end the menace of human trafficking and irregular migration.

The reports said about 5,000 stranded Nigerians in Libya have been successfully repatriated by the Nigerian government, in collaboration with the IOM, since 2021, with more than 800 evacuated in eight exercises in 2023 alone.