A total of 497 Nigerian migrants evacuated from Niger Republic through the Jibia border have been received by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI).
The returnees arrived from Agadez, Niger Republic, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport around 12:25 p.m. on Friday, May 22. They were welcomed by officials of the commission’s Kano Field Office alongside representatives of other relevant agencies.
Speaking during the reception, the Federal Commissioner of NCFRMI, Dr. Tijjani Aliyu Ahmed, said the evacuation was part of a coordinated humanitarian operation carried out by the Federal Government in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Represented by the Kano Field Coordinator of the commission, Lubah Liman, Ahmed explained that the migrants were brought back under the IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme.
He noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Consular and Migration Affairs Division, had earlier informed the commission about plans to evacuate stranded Nigerian migrants from Agadez between May 22 and May 25, 2026.
According to him, the exercise is being conducted in two phases in collaboration with the IOM and other government agencies.
“The first batch, which was initially expected to include about 600 returnees, arrived with a total of 497 persons,” he said.
The reception exercise involved several agencies, including the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Department of State Services (DSS), SEMA, and the Nigerian Red Cross Society.
Ahmed added that the returnees underwent documentation procedures, including MIDAS registration by the Nigeria Immigration Service, before being transferred to the Immigration Training School in Kano for feeding, profiling, and other humanitarian support services.
A breakdown of the evacuees showed that they comprised 174 adult men, 97 adult women, 137 boys, and 89 girls.
