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Nigerian deportees

48 out of 500 Nigerian deportees from UK arrive Lagos

Nigerian deportees
Nigerian deportees at the airport complex

The United Kingdom, Wednesday morning, deported 48 Nigerians sid to be living illegally in that country, out of the 500 already pencilled down for deportation to Nigeria.

This deportation is coming on the heels of one of Europe major migration crisis and terror threat as immigrants have been moving into Europe from the Middle Eastern nation of Syria and the recent terror act that claimed the lives of many in Paris, France.

A Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) source at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos where the deportees were brought said that they arrived the airport at 8.03 am on board a Boeing 767 aircraft with registration number AWC931 and that the flight originated from London Stansted Airport to Lagos.

It was further learnt that the deportees were deported for immigration related offences but there was no official statement on the offences committed by the deportees.

According to NIS sources, there were 48 Nigerians deported; of which 44 were male, while 4 were female

One deportee complained about being arrested by British police and was ‘not allowed to even take his belongings before being deported’ with others claiming they do not have relatives in the country and as such are stranded at the airport.

Recently, the Federal Government expressed concern over United Kingdom’s plan to deport 29,000 Nigerians, and has insisted that due process be followed before Nigerians are removed from the UK.

The Government had told the UK to ensure that those been deported are truly Nigerians, medically fit to travel and have a role to play in the country.

It would be recalled that in October, the House of Representatives directed its Committees on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs to liaise with the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the British High Commission over planned deportation of 29,000 Nigerians allegedly living illegally.

The Nigerian deportees
The Nigerian deportees

The resolution also urged the committee to if necessary, summon the British High Commissioner to Nigeria to explain the reasons behind the planned mass deportation of those alleged to be Nigerians for the purpose of establishing accuracy and or morality of the said planned action.

The lawmakers reached the resolutions following a motion bothering on matters of urgent Public importance brought by Hon. Rita Orji (PDP, Lagos) drawing the attention of the House to the dangers of the proposed deportation of 29,000 Nigerians from the UK.

She said: “There are 2 million registered Nigerians who are citizens of the UK. We need to find out if these 29,000 people to be deported are part of the 2 million registered Nigerians living in the UK”.

“It’s possible that many of the people are not even Nigerians. They could have been other African nationals who went to the U.K through Nigeria and are being seen as Nigerians based on their point of origin.

“We now have to look at section 19 of the constitution which deals with foreign policy initiative and focus to see how we can resolve this matter diplomatically or reciprocate this unfriendly and malicious legislation targeted at Nigerians in the U.K”, Hon. Orji advised.

The motion which called on the government of the United Kingdom to stay action on the deportation pending further consultation with the government of Nigeria was referred to the House committees on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs for further action and to report back in two weeks.

The deportation plans by the UK follows a new legislation passed by the British Parliament directing the forceful deportation of foreign nationals who got to the UK on study visas but refused leave after completing their studies.

The new law as recently passed by the House of Commons gives the UK authority the powers to deport any foreigner without resident and work permit without his/her belongings irrespective of his/her clean records and the number of years he/she might have spent after their academic pursuits.

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