UK Deports 500 Nigerians, Some Stranded At Lagos Airport

About 500 Nigerians have been deported from the UK and are now in Lagos, a report by BBC said.

“One person told me that he was arrested by British police and was not allowed to even take his belongings before being deported. A few of them who say they don’t have relatives here are stranded in the airport,” BBC reporter Umar Shehu Elleman said.

UK’s plan to deport 29,000 Nigerians had recently hit the news with the Nigerian government expressing concern and asking Britain to ensure that those being deported are really Nigerians, medically fit to travel and have a role to play in the country.

The acting Nigeria High Commissioner in London, Olukunle Bamgbose, had informed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, during his visit to London in October that about the development. He added the High Commission had asked Britain to ensure that due process is followed.

More Nigerians are expected to be deported next year when an immigration policy which requires non-EU migrants who have spent more than five years working in the country to earn £35,000 (N10.5 million) per year or leave.