One of the 103 Nigerians deported from Turkey on Friday has said that their host country gets \u20ac120 daily per immigrant held at the detention camp.<\/p>\n
The Federal Government had received no fewer than 103 Nigerians deported from Turkey over migration-related issues such as expired visa, irregular migration, among others.<\/p>\n
Alhaji Tijani Ahmed, the Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) stated this on Friday evening.<\/p>\n
He spoke to newsmen during the deportees\u2019 profiling in Abuja.<\/p>\n
\u2018We were expecting 110 deportees\u2019
\nRepresented by Amb. Catherine Udida, the Director of Migration Affairs in the commission, Ahmed said that the commission expected 110 deportees but received 103, all males.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of them have been in the deportation camp for some months. And\u00a0now that they are here, we are hoping to follow up on all the allegations gathered in their profiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will go through the profiling forms, because some of them have said that their passports were seized.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to follow up with the Turkish authority. The passports are still the property of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,\u201d he assured.<\/p>\n
According to him, the NCFRMI is the mandate agency responsible for all returnees, irrespective of their status.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe equally have a programme where we train them and thereafter reintegrate them into the society,\u201d the Federal Commissioner stated.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Mr Bashir\u00a0 Garga, the North-Central Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA),\u00a0 assured the returnees of government readiness to support them through collaborative efforts of all relevant agencies.<\/p>\n
One of the victims, Mr Arinze Stone,\u00a0 said that Turkish authorities arrested and detained him in the camp for about six months.<\/p>\n
Stone said he had been living in Turkey for quite some years doing business.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were arresting people whose paper are not yet out or just expired,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He alleged that it was since the European Union started paying Turkey for illegal immigrants, that the government stopped issuing and renewing resident permits.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach day, the European Union pays 120 Euros per head of immigrants in the Immigration Camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since I had been in Turkey, I always had my resident permit renewed. It just got expired and Turkish authority collected 700Euros from me for tax and insurance and then cancelled the renewal,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Stone added that the deportation fee of about 2,500 Euros that was supposed to be given to each victim was not paid.<\/p>\n
Another victim, Mr Moses Emeh, said he had a registered company in Turkey which had been functioning for more than eight years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also have a resident permit, which was forcibly cancelled but I had earlier planned to convert it into working permit.<\/p>\n
\u201dI don\u2019t know where to start from. But I believe this is a diplomatic issue and I trust our foreign affairs minister, to follow it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also think that they should have a sensitisation programme for\u00a0 Nigerians still living over there in Turkey, because the Turkish government is not being sincere and transparent with us,\u201d\u00a0 Emeh stated<\/p>\n
He narrated that he was arrested and put in a dungeon, for\u00a0 11 months and three weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told that, If I did not sign the deportation documents, I will have to stay in their custody for one year to two years, after which I could be released and given immigration documents to sign, then be reintegrated into the system. But, they never fulfilled that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also know that occupying a territory, without a permit is a crime, but mine was forcibly terminated twice, and I took the case to court.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince my case was already in court and the court was yet to preside over my case,\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it is right for them to deport me,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The returnees were given some dignity kits, starter packs and stipends to enable them travel to their respective places.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the 103 Nigerians deported from Turkey on Friday has said that their host country gets \u20ac120 daily per immigrant held at the detention camp. The Federal Government had…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n