The Federal Government has unveiled plans to repatriate 20,000 Nigerians currently residing in Chad and Cameroon. This initiative aims to bring back 6,000 individuals from Chad and 14,000 from Cameroon within the next two months.
As of December 31 last year, there were 21,381 Nigerian refugees in Chad and 120,677 in Cameroon. The government's efforts to repatriate refugees began last year when 5,000 willing Nigerian refugees were brought back from Cameroon to Banki in Borno State.
The Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugee, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Tijani Ahmed, announced this plan during a meeting in Abuja. He emphasized that repatriation is voluntary and is primarily focused on individuals displaced by various factors such as the 2022 flood, the Boko Haram crisis, farmer-herder clashes, and climate change.
The government has allocated funds for food and non-food items worth N2 billion as a return package for the refugees. Additionally, rehabilitation efforts, including skills acquisition training and housing construction, are ongoing in Banki and Baga in collaboration with the Borno State government. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Deputy Representative (Protection), Bernadette Muteshi, commended the Federal Government for its leadership in this repatriation initiative.
