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Japa: 1,429 Nigerians repatriated from Niger Republic – Report

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Nigerians were repatriated from Niger Republic
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At least 1,429 Nigerians were repatriated from Niger Republic in May 2026, the latest data from the Mixed Migration Centre show.

This is as the West African country continues to serve as a major transit corridor for citizens attempting the dangerous journey to Europe through Libya and Algeria.

The figures are contained in the Quarterly Mixed Migration Update for West Africa, Quarter 2 2026 and obtained by Saturday PUNCH as the latest data on stranded Nigerian migrants along the Sahel migration corridor.

The latest data come as Nigeria continues to grapple with a wider japa wave, driven largely by economic hardship that has also pushed hundreds of thousands of citizens toward the UK, the United States, Canada, and other destinations through both regular and irregular channels in recent years.

The data cited a Saturday PUNCH report from May in which the Nigeria Immigration Service confirmed the arrival of at least 1,100 Nigerians who travelled by road from Niger Republic on May 22, 2026.

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Two days later, the National Emergency Management Agency received an additional 329 returnees from Agadez, Niger’s main desert transit hub, bringing the total to more than 1,400.

The Mixed Migration Centre, a Geneva-headquartered research body affiliated with the Danish Refugee Council, stated that the mass return “highlight the continued presence of stranded migrants in Niger, many of whom face prolonged stays in IOM (International Organization for Migration) centres or urban areas with limited resources.”

Agadez, roughly 950 kilometres north-east of Niger’s capital, Niamey, has for over a decade functioned as the main northbound staging post for West Africans attempting to cross the Sahara into Libya or Algeria, before onward sea crossings to Italy or Spain.

The report showed that Nigerians remained among the persistent nationalities still attempting the Central Mediterranean Route into Italy.

As of May 2026, 163 Nigerians had arrived in Italy via that route, behind only Mali (193) among West African nationalities, though the figure was down from 196 Nigerian arrivals recorded over the same period in 2025.

The document also showed that Nigerians were also being swept up in a parallel and largely unrecorded expulsion running from Algeria back into Niger.

Citing Alarm Phone Sahara, a Sahel-based migrant rights network, the report disclosed that at least 14,602 people were expelled from Algeria into Niger between January 18 and May 17, 2026 alone.

It said this was equivalent to 43 per cent of the reported 34,000 expulsions recorded through the whole of 2025.

While most of these convoys officially return Nigerien nationals, the report noted that “increasing numbers of Nigeriens have also been included in unofficial convoys, which have primarily affected non-Nigeriens,” with those affected reportedly including nationals of Mali, Guinea, Nigeria, Sudan, and Chad.

The report added that on several occasions, migrants expelled from Algeria into Niger Republic were subsequently pushed back across the border into Algeria by Nigerien police.

It said this cycle of expulsion and re-expulsion has left affected migrants, Nigerians among them, in prolonged limbo along the borders.

Regionally, the report said Spain recorded 12,138 irregular arrivals by sea and land as of June 30, 2026, a 33 per cent decline from the same period in 2025, driven mainly by a 67 per cent drop in Atlantic Route crossings to the Canary Islands.

But the report cautioned that falling number of arrivals “do not necessarily reflect fewer crossing attempts,” noting that recorded deaths and disappearances on that same route fell by just 16 per cent, which was a far smaller decline than the drop in arrivals.

The role of Niger Republic as West Africa’s principal transit corridor dates back more than a decade, but accelerated after the collapse of the Muammar Gaddafi regime in Libya in 2011 and opened new smuggling routes northward.

Agadez, a UNESCO World Heritage desert town, became the last major stopover before migrants crossed hundreds of kilometres of open desert into Libya or Algeria.

Under pressure from the European Union, Niger Republic in 2015 passed a law criminalising migrant smuggling, which reduced visible transit through Agadez for several years but pushed smugglers and migrants onto riskier, less-monitored desert routes.

Niger’s military government, which seized power in a 2023 coup, later repealed the anti-smuggling law, a move rights groups said reopened Agadez as one of Africa’s busiest migration routes and complicated cooperation with European partners on migration control.

Nigeria, under the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, allows its citizens to travel to Niger Republic without a visa for up to 90 days.

The report said this freedom has long made the neighbouring country both a legitimate trade corridor and an easy first step for Nigerians attempting onward irregular migration to North Africa and Europe.
(Saturday PUNCH)

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Gov Mbah approves new appointments to key Enugu institutions

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President Bola Tinubu
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Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has approved the appointment of new members and principal officers to key state institutions as part of the administration’s ongoing efforts to reform institutions, strengthen governance and enhance effective service delivery.

Secretary to the State Government, Prof Chidiebere Onyia, disclosed this in a statement made available to Newsmen on Friday, September 4,2026 in Enugu.

The appointments are as follows:

CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

Prof. Gabriel Ajah — Chairman
Christian Mbah — Member One
Mrs. Stella Ekweremadu — Member Two
Mrs. Theresa Onyefuzili Ifeanyichukwu — Member Three
Uzonna Emmanuel Ogarabe — Member Four
Ambrose Nwodo — Secretary

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ENUGU STATE TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (TVET)

Dr. Amaka S. Ngene — Chairman
Bonaventure Onu — Member
Barr. Nnadi Eluke — Member
Kingsley Agwu — Member
Mrs. Joy Odike — Secretary

ENUGU STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (ESUT) GOVERNING COUNCIL

Barr. Victor Chukwuani — Chairman
Engr. James Ifeanyichukwu Ajibo — Member
Dr. Eric Oluedo — Member
Dr. Mrs. Gladys Ngozi Okoro — Member
Chukwu Chikaodiri Joy — Member

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY (IMT) GOVERNING COUNCIL

Hon. Chinedu Onu — Chairman
Dr. Barth Nwankwo — Member
Barr. Emeka Ede — Member
Mrs. Rita Chimaobi — Member
Prince Tony Nwonye — Member

ENUGU STATE POLYTECHNIC, IWOLLO GOVERNING COUNCIL

Rev. Fr. Prof. Anthony Aniagboso Igwe — Rector
Deaconess Ifeoma Nwobodo — Chairman, Governing Council
Obinna Aleke — Member
Barr. Henry Okeke — Member
Emeka Abba — Member

ENUGU STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECHNICAL) (ESCET) GOVERNING COUNCIL

Barr. Nwabueze Ugwu — Chairman
Prince Cletus Ajaegbu — Member
Dr. Chiesonu Isiga Eruchalu — Member
Dr. Chukwuemeka Nwatu — Member
Theophilus Onyebeke — Member
The appointments take effect immediately.

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Boko Haram attacks APC governorship candidate’s convoy in Borno

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Mustapha Gubio
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Suspected members of Boko Haram terrorists have attacked the convoy of Mustapha Gubio, the governorship flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Borno State.

Sources said the incident took place along the Gubio-Karote-Damasak highway in the northern part of the state on Thursday.

Damasak is located in northern Borno and is about 190km from Maiduguri, the state capital.

The convoy was en route to Mobbar, headquarters of Damasak Local Government Area, to pay a thank-you visit to members of the APC for their support which led to his emergence as the consensus candidate in the party’s last primary elections.

Sources said: “The convoy came under heavy attack around Kareto community at about 2:30pm, but was swiftly repelled by a combined team of security escorts, including soldiers, police, NSCDC, DSS, CTJF and vigilante groups.”

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According to an insider who escaped but did not want his name mentioned, “The incident happened during a thank-you tour by Mustapha Gubio and his team to the northern part of the state.

“It was a terrifying moment for us; we came under heavy attacks by terrorists yesterday.”

He continued, “The terrorists fired several Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) on our convoy, which also followed by sporadic shooting. Luckily, our security agencies repelled the attacks.

“Police armoured vehicles were damaged, but there was no casualty,” said the source.

Force Public Relations Officer, Ani Iniedu, confirmed the attack, saying: “Police tactical operatives successfully counter-engaged suspected terrorists who attacked a convoy along the Kareto–Damasak Road with an IED and rocket-propelled grenades.

“The tactical team forced the terrorists to retreat into the surrounding bush and subsequently scanned and cleared the immediate axis to neutralise secondary explosive threats.

“The convoy, conveying a gubernatorial aspirant, government officials and political stakeholders, was safely evacuated to a secure location with no casualties recorded among members of the entourage.”

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Harsh economic policies pushing young Nigerians to sell their kidneys to survive — Atiku

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Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, has blamed the desperation of young Nigerians to sell their kidneys on President Bola Tinubu’s harsh economic policies.

It could be recalled that the police last week raided a hospital in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, after it was reported that at least 10 young men were victims of organ harvesting.

Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has now accused President Bola Tinubu of making life more expensive for Nigerians, saying he would make the country affordable again if given the opportunity.

In a post on his X handle on Friday, Atiku expressed concern over reports of young Nigerians allegedly selling their kidneys and other body organs in desperate attempts to survive the country’s worsening economic hardship.

He said young Nigerians should be pursuing their dreams, building careers and developing innovative ideas rather than considering the sale of their body organs as a means of survival.

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“I have heard disturbing stories about the extent to which young Nigerians are being driven simply to survive.

“Perhaps the most horrifying are the growing reports of young people selling parts of their bodies: kidneys in particular, in desperate attempts to raise money.

“Young people should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs,” Atiku wrote.

He added that the rising cost of food, transportation, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity had worsened the living conditions of many Nigerians.

According to him, reports that some young Nigerians were being driven to sell their kidneys for as little as N1.7 million reflected the level of desperation caused by the cost-of-living crisis.

Atiku said Nigeria’s laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and organ trafficking were insufficient to address the poverty and desperation that make vulnerable young people targets of criminal networks.

He stressed that economic reforms should improve the living conditions of citizens by making basic necessities more affordable.

“Economic reform must have a human face. It must mean affordable food, cheaper transportation, accessible healthcare, decent jobs and renewed hope for the next generation.

“Our young people should be selling their ideas, talents and innovation to the world and not their kidneys for N1.7 million just to survive at home,” he said.

Atiku described the situation as the human cost of Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis, accusing the Tinubu administration of worsening the economic burden on Nigerians.

He further stated that “Tinubu made Nigeria expensive. I will make Nigeria affordable again.”

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