76 Nigerians Deported From UK

[emezico]

Seventy Nigerians were on Wednesday deported by the UK government for various immigration and other offences.

The Europe Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes Mr Mohammed Isa, Head of the Immigration Section in the Nigerian High Commission in the UK as saying that the deportees included those who had completed their prison terms, over-stayers and failed asylum seekers.

Dr Dalhatu Tafida, the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK, who also spoke on the development, said it was not true that the Nigerian officials were collaborating with the UK government to unfairly deport Nigerians.

"The British government is the one that decides whether these people can continue to stay in the UK or not. We only assist when they decide to go home or a decision has been made by the authority to deport them.

"Our job includes verifying that those being deported are bonafide Nigerians, and not nationals of other nationals, and that they are fairly and humanely treated on their flight back home.''

NAN reports that the deportation exercise began following the signing in 2005 of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on migration returns between the two countries.

[emezico]