Libya deports 163 Nigerians
By Tribune
Published : Thursday, May 15, 2008
One hundred and sixty three Nigerians were on Wednesday deported to Nigeria from Libya through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The deportees, mostly women and children, were flown into the airport aboard a Libyan carrier, Air Memphs, chartered by Afriqyah Airline accompanied by law enforcement agents from Libya.
According to an official from the immigration service at the airport, the 163 that came on Wednesday formed the first batch of the 413 Nigerians the Libyan government had concluded plans to deport.
Their deportation was as a result of the directive from Colonel Muammar Ghaddafi that all foreigners who fail to regularise their stay documents be deported.
The Nigerians could not regularise their papers because most of them entered Libya with fake documents.
Another batch of the deportees was to arrive yesterday evening.
Some of the deportees ran into trouble with Libyan authorities over immigration offences ranging from illegal entry to burglary.
Fourteen of the deportees were said to have committed drug trafficking offences.
While those not found guilty have been released, the 14 deported over drug-related offences are being held in National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) custody for interrogation.
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