…As IOM returns 350 Enugu migrants
Ben Ezechime, Enugu
Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, says the state is ready to partner with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), to ensure the safe return, resettlement and reintegration of irregular and stranded migrants from the state.
Mbah said this in Enugu when he received a delegation of the IOM in Nigeria led by the Chief of Mission, Laurent De Boeck in his office.
The governor commended the IOM for its role in mitigating the challenges faced by irregular migrants, including victims of trafficking and exploitation.
Mbah said his administration would also help the IOM secure a zonal office in Enugu so that such returnees could come home directly and be rehabilitated rather than be taken to other states.
Responding to IOM’s claim that it had helped 350 stranded and irregular immigrants of Enugu State extraction, mostly from Libya and Niger Republic, to return home safely, the governor said: “The radical social programmes introduced by the Enugu State government would be handy in equipping such returnees with skills to make a decent living.”
According to him, “As a government, we are quite ready to collaborate with you in the areas of integration of these victims and also those who may just be stranded abroad and interested in coming back home, to be reintegrated into their home state.
“We have a lot of programmes that we have also designed as a state to cater for the welfare and wellbeing of our people.
“We have several radical programmes in the social services sector. Whether it is in education and healthcare, the government is involved in indepth programmes that will impact the lives of our people, including such returnees,” he said.
The governor said it should not be a case that if Indigenes of Enugu State were to be brought back from outside the country, they would be kept in Lagos or elsewhere.
“I think they should be brought back to Enugu and we should be able to have at least a transit camp where they can stay and undergo counselling and get reintegrated.
“Therefore, we are also more than happy to work with you to have a zonal office in Enugu, as I was made to understand you are interested in securing one,” Mbah said.
He expressed the readiness of the administration to partner with IOM to tap into the positive side of migration by harnessing the state’s diaspora material and human resources for the good of both themselves and the state.
“You know that we have a lot of programmes, which we believe will attract the diasporans. One is our Disapora Bond, which we hope to launch sometime in April this year.
“We believe that there are quite a lot of values that the disaporans can bring to our economy beyond remittances for consumption.
“So, if we are able to design an investment that can guarantee or secure their investment and also show some returns, we know that it will be attractive to them. This is why we are investing in the Enugu State Diaspora Investment Summit to raise awareness and tap into the consciousness of our people,” he added.
The IOM Chief of Mission, De Boeck, said the main activity of the IOM in the state was in the area of ensuring the return and reintegration of young, able people, who left the country.
“For years, we have worked with some of our offices abroad and in other countries where we have identified Enugu people, who were stranded or were victims of smugglers and traffickers.
“And in this regard, we have organised their return and reintegration.
“We have returned 350 people so far to Enugu.
“Our offices in Libya and Niger Republic are where we have identified most of them.
“We have more of them in the plane coming back to Lagos, and we will look at the manifest to know if there is still any person from Enugu State among them, and we will activate their return,” he stated.
As part of a strategy to discourage irregular migration, the IOM Chief said the organisation was working on developing avenues on how to help Nigerians to migrate abroad, regularly, with a proper condition for safe jobs and proper conditions and dignity in their host countries.
