Some Libyan returnees from Edo state have said more Nigerians would continue to flee to Libya in spite of the much-publicised sufferings and torture associated with such trips except governments at all levels become more responsive to the yearnings of the youth.
Accusing the government of being the major stimulator of such dangerous journeys, the returnees added that if elected public officials fulfilled even half of their electioneering campaign promises, the number of irregular migrants from Nigeria would reduce drastically.
They consequently advised international humanitarian agencies against routing their projects through the Nigerian Government, lamenting that such lofty gestures hardly ever get to the intended beneficiaries.
According to Vanguardngr, the spoke in Benin-City, at a ceremony organized by IOM to launch and hand over a Migrant Resource Centre MRC to the FG.
A returnee who simply identified himself as Collins said; “ Talking about reintegration, up till today nothing has been done. They trained us last year but the grants they promised us have not been given. My candid advice to IOM and EU is that if you want to spend money on returnees, do not partner with the Nigerian government. Some of us that returned have gone back again”.
In a swift response, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Boss Mustapha, said; “There are procedures. International bodies cannot come and operate here without collaborating with the government on ground. The Office of the SGF makes efforts to ensure that every programme gets to the target population but if it is hijacked at the state level, then that is very unfortunate.”
On her part, the representative of the NCFRMI said; “ There is an SOP – Standard Operating Procedure for handling returnees. The SOP is in the process of being operationalized and I can assure you that by the time that is done, most of your fears would have been addressed.”
