- Edo Appreciates EU, IOM
By Time Nigeria
In a rescue mission to safe lives of the stranded Nigerians in Libya, the Federal Government has evacuated about 1,490 Nigerians from Libya to the country in three batches through the Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers State.
This was made known to Journalists by the Public Relations Officer of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mr Sani Datti. According to him, the first flight evacuated 484 victims, while the second flight came in with 446 and the third airlifted 560 persons.
Datti, said Medview Airline will soon join Max Air in airlifting more Nigerians until the 5, 037 target is met.
It was however learnt that some states are yet to show up to pick up their returnees, meanwhile the Federal Government has urged states that are yet to pick up their returnees to do so without further delay in the interest of their citizens.
The states yet to comply with the directive include Ondo, Osun and Ogun while Imo, Delta, Anambra, Yobe, Kano, Benue and Kaduna, among others, have been picking up their returnees.
The Federal Government had, after inaugurating the Libya Evacuation Committee headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, gave it 38 days to evacuate all Nigerians stranded in Libya.
Meanwhile, the Edo State government yesterday commended the Federal Government, International Organisation on Migration (IOM), European Union (UN) on their role in the return and rehabilitation of Nigerian victims of trafficking, especially those of Edo extraction.
Senior Special Assistant to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Anti-Human Trafficking, Solomon Okoduwa, also commended Onyeama and the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to President Muhammadu Buhari on the Diaspora, Abike Dabibri and urged the National Agency for the Prohibition and Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to tow the same line.
Okoduwa said over 70 per cent of the deported Nigerians were from the South-South region, with Edo leading in the number of victims. On government’s efforts towards empowering the youths, he said: “Recently, government approved N100 million seed grant and 150 hectares of farmlands to some recently trained returnees to engage them in various skills as they have become more vulnerable.”
Similarly, Yobe State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Ahmed Goniri, has said the 29 repatriated indigenes of the state from Libya would be reunited with their families before being released into the society with government support.
Goniri gave the assurance yesterday in Damaturu, the state capital, while briefing journalists on the re-integration and support of the returnees to their communities across the state.
