Returnees appeal to FG to assist stranded citizens return home

Some Nigerian returnees from Libya on Thursday appealed to Federal Government to assist in bringing back home many Nigerians who are stranded in the country.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Lagos shortly after their arrival that Nigerians were inhumanly treated in Libya.

NAN reports that the returnees were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the Swiss Government and the Nigerian Embassy in Libya.

Mr Tunde Ayinde, an architect, said that he went to Libya in search of greener pasture but unfortunately, he fell sick and was hospitalised.

Ayinde said when he could not pay for his hospital bill; he was thrown out of the hospital.

“I was arrested by their security agents and remanded in prison for three months just because I asked one of the officers to assist me by showing me the Nigerian embassy in Tripoli when I could not afford to pay my bill.

“I was subjected to series of inhuman treatment in their prison until they put me among Nigerians who were being assisted back home by IOM.

“I am a Pastor, I came to Libya to look for money to buy land and build own church but the suffering here is too much,” he said.

He urged the government to help Nigerians in Libya by providing plane to evacuate them, adding that many of them were stranded.

Another returnee, George Okumbor said he regretted going to the country.

Okumbor said he was happy to be back in the country, adding that many innocent Nigerians who were in search of job were languishing in prisons.

He urged the government to stop Nigerians from going to Libya because they were treating them like animals.

Ms Aisha Salawu, a female returnee said they went through Kano and walked on foot to Libya.

Salawu, who travelled to Libya in February, said that she worked as a cleaner in a hospital.

She said she was arrested by a security officer on her way to her working place.

Salawu said that since then she had been languishing in prison, adding while she was in prison she was being beaten daily.

She appealed to federal government to send immigration officers to Kano and Seme borders in order to prevent Nigerians from travelling to foreign countries illegally.

Salawu said she was happy to be back home, urging government to assist in securing jobs for returnees.