Not long ago, we are warned of the imminent deportation of Nigerians from the United Kingdom but little or nothing was done to prevent this from happening. Now the deportation has began with 48 Nigerians repatriated back home by the British government.
Nigeria had expressed concern over the UK’s plan to deport 29,000 Nigerians and has insisted that due process be followed before Nigerians are removed from the UK.
Nigeria says Britain must ensure that those being deported are really Nigerians, medically fit to travel and have a role to play in the country- meaning they should be able to fit into Nigerian society.
Earlier in the UK, two anti-deportation activists glued themselves to the gate of an immigration centre near London’s Heathrow airport, in an attempt to stop the chartered flight to Nigeria from leaving.
They were part of a group of activists trying to stop a bus carrying deportees for a flight to Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. The Nigerians deported from the United Kingdom (UK) and who arrived the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, yesterday morning, it is back to the familiar past they thought they had left behind, at least, for a while, to begin afresh the struggle to keep body and soul together. Some others are stranded with nowhere to go after leaving Nigeria, several decades ago.
Many of them have been deported over illegal stay permits. A few who spoke to newsmen complained of the way they were handled by the British authorities, alleging that majority of them were not even allowed take their belongings before being deported.
More Nigerians are expected to be deported next year when an immigration policy, which requires non-EU migrants, who have spent more than five years working in the country to earn £35,000 (N10.5 million) per year or leave. The Nigerian Immigration Service according to a statement by its spokesperson, Mr. Ekpedeme King, said the 48 Nigerians were deported for overstaying their visa validity period and other immigration-related offences, adding that the 48 deportees had nothing to do with the 29,000 Nigerians the UK government announced it is planning to deport back to the country.
