Over 600 Nigerians who are stranded in Saudi Arabia, some as long as seven months were spotted in a video making rounds online.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commmission (NIDCOM) has reacted to the video. On Friday, she said;
“Nigerian irregular migrants in Saudi Arabia are due to be evacuated on the 28th and 29th of January, pending any unforeseen issues.”
She described them as “irregular migrants in Saudi Arabia”, amounting to 600.
She continued;
“Their evacuation was delayed due to issues relat ing to COVID-19. We appeal to Nigerians to resist travelling abroad without proper documents,”
The NIDCOM chair revealed that they will be put into two groups for evacuation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the video sighted by Ghgossip, they seemed to be in a packed room which black polythene bags used to wrap their bodies.
A Twitter user called @KsaApc tagged Dabiri-Erewa in the video. The narrator explained that the immigrants have been detained for three to more than seven months instead of the Saudi Arabia Immigration authorities relocating them to Nigeria.
They were subjected to poor conditions in an overcrowded area with something that looks like polythene bags as duvet.
The narrator said;
“We are here more than three months, six months, seven months ago, without any action, no better information on transport to Nigeria,”
“According to the rules and regulations of this location, we are not supposed to be here for more than two weeks.
“Most nationals of other countries have been flown back to their countries. Only we Nigerians don’t have any source or way of getting back.
“I’m here on behalf of others to seek your assistance to get us back to our country.”
Source; Ghgossip.com
