THISDAY

10,000 Nigerians Evacuated from Libya Since 2017

- Chinedu Eze

The National Emergency Management Agency (NAMA) said on Friday that total of 10, 000 Nigerians had returned from Libya from April 2017 to October 2018.

NEMA made this known during the 50th flight of voluntary returnees from Libya who arrived the Murtala Muhammed Internatio­nal Airport (MMIA), Lagos in the early hours of yesterday.

A total of 161 Nigerians arrived with the 50th flight with the assistance of the Internatio­nal Organisati­on for Migration (IOM).

Among the arrivals were 147 adults, four children, 10 infants and one unaccompan­ied sevenyear-old minor.

Earlier on Tuesday, NEMA had received a batch of 149 returnees, making a total of 310 returnees brought back in the week.

It was learnt that on Tuesday, a pregnant woman went into labour immediatel­y she arrived at the MMIA cargo wing and she was delivered of a baby boy by the combined team of medical personnel on ground.

The Zonal Coordinato­r of NEMA, Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu commended the IOM and other developmen­t partners for their humanitari­an efforts on the returnees.

Represente­d by Mr. Segun Afolayan, the Coordinato­r noted that since the pact with IOM in 2011, the synergy and partnershi­p of UN agency has been smooth.

The Zonal Coordinato­r appealed to the returnees not to feel ashamed to disclose their health status on arrival in Nigeria.

This, he noted, would help government to take care of them adequately, adding that informatio­n on health status of some of the returnees were only revealed by others who felt it was a national responsibi­lity for them to help the general public.

He also urged the families of the returnees to ensure that all their relations go for full medical examinatio­ns as soon as they arrive their homes.

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