It has been revealed by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) that Ogun state has the highest number of returnees from South Africa.
Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, CEO of the commission disclosed this at a media briefing on Monday, saying that 30 of the 187 returnees are from Ogun – the highest number; 28 are from Imo – the second highest number, while 23 are from Oyo – the third highest number.
She said Kogi and Benue have the least number of one each.
Seven returnees are from Abia state; 13 from Anambra; 15 from Delta; two from Ebonyi; 13 from Edo; six from Ekiti; seven from Enugu; three from Kwara; seven from Lagos, six from Osun and six from Ondo, according to Dabiri-Erewa.
She added that the list containing details of the returnees will be forwarded to the various states to ensure proper reintegration.
According to her, 319 citizens will be returning to the country from South Africa on Tuesday evening.
Dabiri-Erewa said, “I am going to stressed one thing, those who returned are not criminals, in fact they are very hardworking Nigerians and have lost everything they have ever worked for in South Africa,’’ she said.
“So their only crime is being black and being Nigerian. We had father’s separated from their children, we have a widow with four children who just had to come back home. They are already offers for scholarships for her children.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the evacuation of Nigerians from South Africa in the wake of the xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in that country, especially Nigerians.
Last Wednesday, the first of batch of returnees arrived in Nigeria, courtesy of Air Peace, a Nigerian carrier, that had offered to airlift Nigerians willing to return to the country free of charge.
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