Headline

Turkey Deports 103 Nigerians

Published

1 year ago

June 29, 2024

Editor

The Federal Government has received no fewer than 103 Nigerians deported from Turkey over alleged migration-related issues such as expired visas and irregular migration, among others.

Alhaji Tijani Ahmed, the Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), stated this on Friday evening, during the deportees’ profiling in Abuja.

Represented 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.

“Some of them have been in the deportation camp for some months, and now that they are here, we are hoping to follow up on all the allegations gathered in their profiling.

“We will go through the profiling forms, because some of them have said that their passports were seized.

“We are going to follow up with the Turkish authority, because the passports are still the property of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he assured.

Similarly, Mr Bashir Garga, the North-Central Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), assured the returnees of government’s readiness to support them through collaborative efforts of all relevant agencies.

However, some of the deported Nigerians have denied any wrongdoings.

One of the victims, Mr Arinze Stone, said that Turkish authority arrested and detained him in the camp for about six months, adding that he had been living in Turkey for quite some years doing business.

“They were arresting people whose paper are not yet out or just expired,” he said.

He alleged that it was since the European Union started paying Turkey for illegal immigrants, that the government stopped issuing and renewing resident permits.

“Each day, the European Union pays 120 Euros per head of immigrants in the Immigration Camp.

“Ever since I had been in Turkey, I always had my resident permit renewed. It just got expired and the Turkish authority collected 700 euros from me for tax and insurance and then cancelled the renewal,” he explained.

Stone added that the deportation fee of about 2,500 Euros that was supposed to be given to each victim was not paid.

Another victim, Mr Moses Emeh, said he had a registered company in Turkey which had been functioning for more than eight years.

“I also have a resident permit, which was forcibly cancelled but I had earlier planned to convert it into a working permit.

”I don’t know where to start from. But I believe this is a diplomatic issue and I trust our foreign affairs minister to follow it up.

“I also think that they should have a sensitisation programme for Nigerians still living over there in Turkey because the Turkish government is not being sincere and transparent with us,” Emeh stated.

He narrated that he was arrested and put in a dungeon for 11 months and three weeks.

“I was told that If I did not sign the deportation documents, I would 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.

“I 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.

“Since my case was already in court and the court was yet to preside over my case, I don’t think it is right for them to deport me,” he added.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the returnees were given some dignity kits, starter packs and stipends to enable them to travel to their respective places.
(NAN)

Headline

Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Published

13 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Israel said that the last 20 living hostages released by Hamas on Monday had arrived in the country.

“Welcome home,” the foreign ministry wrote in a series of posts on X, hailing the return of Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker.

AFP

Headline

20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Published

15 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”

“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Headline

South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

Published

16 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.

The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.

“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.

Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.

The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.

South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

AFP