Fed Govt hands over 200 returnees to Kano

 

The Federal Government on Tuesday handed over 200 returnees from Saudi Arabia who are indigenous to Kano State to the state government.

Ambassador Bolaji Akinremi, the Director of Consular and Legal Department, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who delivered the returnees in Abuja, said the exercise started on January 28, 2021.

According to him, the government has put measures in place to give them a new lease of life.

Akinremi said: “They were 389 returnees from Saudi Arabia, followed by 425 and later lesser number of 39; today we have 1,319 altogether on the FCT Muslim Hajj Camp Ground.

“These are those who came in different batches, we have had a batch of over 300 or 400 three times and then we have the small pocket here and there.

He explained that after the last round of COVID- 19 tests,  everybody still on the camp ground would be handed over to their respective state governments, while commending the FCT Health Sector and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for their collaboration.

Receiving the returnees, Hajiya Hama Aware, the Director-General of Kano Investment Promotion Agency and Diaspora expressed appreciation to the Federal Government and Nigeria Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) for their support.

Aware, also Focal Person of NIDCOM to Kano said such efforts ensured that the returnees were handled with care.

“On behalf of the Governor of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje, we thank you for putting things in place to cater for all the returnees.

“We had more than 1,000 Kano citizens that have returned from Saudi Arabia; Kano had the largest number of returnees among others currently with over 310 citizens.

“So far, some of them have left, but we were here on Saturday, Feb. 6, to take their data.

“We have over 150 Kano citizens that are still in the camp and we are here with vehicles provided by the Kano government to carry our citizens back to the state,” she said.

She revealed that necessary measures had been deployed by the state government to support the returnees to arrive home safely and also sensitise them to illegal migration.

Meanwhile, a returnee, Mrs Halima Shaibu narrated her ordeal to have been in terms of coping with work, lack of access to the local delicacy and incessant restrictions in that country.

Shaibu said: “I did not have much challenge, except for workload, lack of Nigerian-made food and that police can arrest people in that country without official identity or international passport.”