About 560 Nigerians have again returned from Libya to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. The South-South Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Martins Ejike, made this known to journalists yesterday in Port Harcourt.
Ejike said the returnees, comprising 540 adults and 20 infants, arrived the airport on board Max Air, with registration No: 5N-HMM about 11:52p.m.
However, he expressed dissatisfaction over poor response of some state governments in evacuating the Libyan returnees from the reception centre in the state.
The zonal coordinator said that the Federal Government gave the states 48 hours to enable them to evacuate their returnees from the centre. He expressed dismay that some states failed to abide by the directives, noting that South-West states are not responding to the evacuation process.
Ejike, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that the choice of Port Harcourt airport as evacuation route was based on proximity to the most affected states. He said: “Edo State alone recorded 309 out of 484 migrants. The record also showed that over 80 per cent of the returnees were indigenes of Edo and Delta states.
“It is more convenient for the largely affected states to evacuate their returnees from Port Harcourt.” The Public Relations Officer of Max Air, Mr. Muhammad Dahiru, also said that the airline was competent to convey 1,680 returnees if passengers were cleared without delays.
Dahiru said that the airline deployed three aircraft with 560 capacity each for the operation, adding that speedy operation could be actualised if passengers’ documentation and clearance are not delayed.
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