KEY POINTS:
- Returning from UAE, 400 Nigerians deported as they landed via the Abuja airport.
- There is always some political tension that has hampered Nigeria’s relations with UAE in particular.
- The ban on issuing visas to Nigerians was only recently lifted following protracted discussion.
Nigerians media, Nigerian Television Authority reported that 400 Nigerians, among them 90 women and 310 men were deported from UAE and arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Four hundred Nigerians sent back from UAE as tension continues to rise between diplomatic bodies of both countries.
Other agencies were represented by the Office of the National Security Adviser, The national commission for refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons, NEMA, National agency for the prohibition of trafficking in persons.
This recent deportation follows a trend of tense relationship between Nigeria and the UAE hence affecting diplomatic immunity as well as economic diplomacy between the two countries.
The UAE has been firm on immigration, they remain fully implementing a visa ban that was accorded to Nigerians close to two years ago.
Even as the negotiations were still ongoing and the visas had been lifted in July 2024, the deportation demonstrates that there are still open sore between the two countries.
