6 yıl önce

Nigeria struggles to cope with repatriated citizens

More than 400 Nigerians returned after being stranded in Libya after failing to reach Europe. This comes as global outrage erupted over claims hundreds of African migrants were being held as slaves in Libya.

AP

Nigerians have recently been the largest national group among African migrants travelling to Libya and trying to cross from there to Italy by sea. January 13, 2017

Some knelt and pressed their foreheads to the ground in prayer. Several carried small children. After being stranded in Libya after failing to reach Europe, more than 400 Nigerian migrants were brought home.

Nigeria's government, its president appalled by recent CNN footage of a slave auction in Libya where migrant Africans were "sold like goats," has committed to bringing Nigerians home, along with a number of other African nations.

Nigeria pledged to repatriate 250 migrants a week, following the CNN report.

Nigerians make up the majority of undocumented migrants trying to make the treacherous crossing via the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

Almost 1,300 Nigerian migrants returned home from Libya last November – nearly twice as many as in the previous month, the head of Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said in December.

Wendy Agbo reports from Edo, Nigeria.