FG evacuates 7, 790 Nigerians from Chad

The Federal Government has evacuated 7,790 Nigerians from the Republic of Chad.

The returnees fled to the Central African country following the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East.

The Special Adviser on Media of the Borno State Governor, Mr. Dauda Illiya, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Maiduguri.

He said Governor Babagana Zulum led the Federal Government’s delegation to Chad to bring the citizens back home.

Other members of the delegation were the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, and the Chief Executive Officer, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Aliyu Ahmed.

The governor’s spokesman said the delegation was received in Baga Sola on Wednesday by the Governor of Lac Province, Saleh Tidjani.

The returnees who are mostly indigenes of Borno had been taking shelter in Chad after their communities around Lake Chad Basin were overrun by the insurgents.

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Zulum also attended the signing of a tripartite agreement between the governments of Nigeria, Chad, and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Baga Sola.

Sununu signed for Nigeria while Tidjani represented Chad at the event.

In his remark at the ceremony, the governor said the refugees who declared their readiness to return home were evacuated.

He thanked the Chadian government for hosting thousands of displaced Nigerians in the last 10 years.

Zulum said: “This exercise is entirely voluntary. We are grateful to the government and people of Chad for their hospitality and support in sheltering our people during their time of need.

“Now that peace has returned to many areas in Borno, we are prepared to help them reintegrate into their communities.

“In the first batch of the repatriation, about 1,768 families, comprising 7,790 individuals, will be transported back to Nigeria.”

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