About 48 Nigerians were deported by the UK Government this week on immigration-related offences consisting of 44 males and 4 females arrived Nigeria through Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.One of the deportees was said to have been arrested by the British police, and was not allowed to take his belongings before being deported.
The deportees said they were stranded outside the airport waiting for families and friends to come pick them.
In another news, British Broadcasting Corporation also reported on Wednesday that a plane carrying about 500 Nigerian deportees is expected to land at the MMIA in Lagos. The BBC, in an interview with some of the deportees, reported that the people were not willing to come back. But the NIS authorities have declared that only 48 deportees were received on Wednesday.
Out of the 44 deportees, 26 had passports while the remaining 22 were issued Emergency Travel Certificates by the Nigerian High Commission in the UK and that that the deportees would not be prosecuted since their issues were not criminal.
Mr. Ekpedeme King, the Nigerian Immigration service spokesperson,who confirmed the development, said some of the deportees had overstayed their visas.
Other MMIA official, who spoke in anonymity, said the 48 deportees had nothing to do with the 29,000 Nigerians that the UK was planning to deport to the country at a later date.
Most of them were said to be violent as a result of the aggression of returning abruptly from the overseas. So, keeping them with us was not a favourable option, the MMIA officials said.
The Federal Government of Nigeria had told the UK Government to be sure that the deportees were really Nigerians, medically fit to travel, and those who had a role to play in the country and would fit into the society.
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