The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons NCFRMI, has received 497 Nigerian migrants evacuated from Niger Republic through the Jibia border as part of ongoing humanitarian repatriation efforts coordinated by the Federal Government and international partners.
The returnees arrived at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on Friday at about 12:25 p.m. from Agadez, Niger Republic, and were received by officials of the commission’s Kano Field Office alongside other relevant agencies.
Speaking during the reception exercise, the Federal Commissioner of the commission, Dr. Tijjani Aliyu Ahmed, said the evacuation followed a coordinated humanitarian intervention by the Federal Government in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration.
Represented by the Kano Field Coordinator of the commission, Lubah Liman, Ahmed explained that the returnees were evacuated under the IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme designed to assist stranded migrants willing to return home safely.
He disclosed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Consular and Migration Affairs Division, had earlier notified the commission of plans to evacuate stranded Nigerian migrants from Agadez between May 22 and May 25, 2026.
According to him, the evacuation exercise is being carried out in two batches in partnership with the IOM and other relevant government agencies.
“The first batch, initially projected to comprise about 600 returnees, arrived with a total of 497 persons,” he said.
Ahmed noted that the reception and profiling exercise was coordinated by the commission in collaboration with several agencies, including the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, National Emergency Management Agency, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the Department of State Services, State Emergency Management Agency and the Nigerian Red Cross Society.
He further explained that the returnees underwent documentation procedures, including MIDAS registration conducted by the Nigeria Immigration Service, before being moved to the Immigration Training School in Kano for temporary shelter, feeding, profiling and other humanitarian support services.
A breakdown of the returnees showed that 174 were adult males, 97 adult females, 137 male children and 89 female children.
Some of the returnees recounted the hardships they faced while stranded in Agadez and appealed to the federal and state governments, humanitarian organisations and well-meaning Nigerians to support their reintegration into society.