197 Nigerians, who were trapped in the war raging on in the Central African Republic (CAR) have escaped and found their way to Nigeria, through Yola, capital of Adamawa state.
The Director Search and Rescue of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) made this known in Yola, Air Commodore, Charles Otegbade, who received the returnees said that the Nigerians escaped from CAR unrest early last year.
Otegbade said that the International Organization for Migrants with the support of Cameroonian authority escorted them to Sahuda, a border town along Nigeria-Cameroon border in Mubi South Local Government Area.
“NEMA has received a total of 197 Nigerians from International Organisation for Migrants with the support of Cameroon authority.
“The development follows the closure of the international camps by the organisation at Kenzo and Garua Bulai, all in Eastern Cameroon.”
Otegbade confirmed that the 197 Nigerians were the last batch evacuated since the CAR conflict erupted in late 2013 and early 2014, adding that at the peak of the conflict in 2014, NEMA with the collaboration of Nigerian Air Force, rescued and evacuated over 2000 Nigerians from Bangui International Airport to Abuja.
“Those that were trapped in various locations in Central Africa and could not reach Bangui but escaped into Cameroon Republic for their safety. And so far, NEMA had evacuated and settled over 3,000 Nigerians returnees from CAR between 2014 to date.”
Otegbade said that Adamawa, Borno and Yobe had the highest number of 52, 41 and 29 returnees respectively. Others are Gombe 16, Kano 12, Bauchi 9, Onitsha (Anambra) and Kaduna with one returnee each.
He said that the remaining returnees were from Plateau, Kebbi, Sokoto Taraba and Federal Capital Territory.
He said that the agency had concluded arrangements to link up all the returnees with their relations. [myad]
