The Federal Government has announced the repatriation of 3,000 Nigerians from Chad Republic, who are now in Borno State.
The Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Aliyu Tijani Ahmed, disclosed this at a Technical Working Group Meeting yesterday in Abuja.
Ahmed, who said the NCFRMI had sent food and non-food items to the returnees, also noted that an agreement had been signed among neighbouring countries and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to ensure that Nigerians abroad are properly repatriated.
He said: “But don’t forget that already, through bilateral work, 3,000 Nigerian refugees in Chad were already repatriated.
“The National Commission for Refugees has sent our food and non-food items. The fact is that we want to continue the repatriation of our Nigerians who are living in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.
“For Niger, there is no signing of any agreement for now. So, we have two areas now, or two countries, Cameroon and Chad, where we have already signed a repatriation agreement.
“This is the main reason why we invited you this morning, as usual, to discuss the way and manner in which we will carry out this exercise without any hitches.”
According to him, 14,000 Nigerians in Cameroon are willing to return collectively to the country.
“Even from the 14,000 of them, 7,000 agreed to return unconditionally, while 7,000 requested security and shelter provision. I think this is a summary of our last meeting.
“We put the budget together and communicated it to the federal government, telling the federal government that this is what we have done, this is the level that we have gone, these are the people that want to return, the number, and these are the numbers who want to come back unconditionally and those who have conditions, which include security and shelter.
“Also, that one has been executed because we sent the report to the presidency.
“Now, as I have told you, in the last few days, we received a similar request from the Nigerien government, and we also received a petition from our Nigerian refugees who are living in Chad, and they want to return.
“The governor wrote to the commission here, and however, arrangements for a bilateral agreement between them and Chad have already been executed between themselves, not with the commission, not with the federal government.
“It was that decision that they took between the federal government and Chad that they were able to repatriate about 3,000.
“Now that an agreement has been signed between the federal government, the Chadian government, and the UNHCR, I think ours now is to go by the tripartite agreement. What happened in the previous repatriation from Chad to Cameroon was purely bilateral.
“But what we are talking about now is to implement the trilateral agreement that has been signed between the three entities: the federal government, the Chadian government, and the UNHCR.
“So, you can see now we have two different agreements that were signed: the trilateral agreement that was signed, the one with Cameroon, and then the one with UNHCR.
“A letter was received from the office of the UNHCR, a similar request for the repatriation of our people in Chad, because of the difficulties they are facing today in Chad.
“International partners and organisations are no longer in tune with the supplies of food items and so on and so forth. So, hunger has now set in in the various camps, the refugees that are living outside this country,” he said.
For many returnees, the journey back home is filled with both relief and apprehension.
“I’m happy I’m returning to my home 11 years after I was forced to leave,” Abdullahi Sani Dansalama told AFP at the Gubio camp in Maiduguri, where he is currently staying.
Dansalama, who fled his home in the fishing town of Doron Baga on the shores of Lake Chad, acknowledged lingering security risks but remained hopeful.
“We know there are still some security challenges, but we are willing to return and rebuild our lives because there is no place like home.”
Since 2009, jihadist violence in northeastern Nigeria has claimed at least 40,000 lives and displaced around two million people, forcing many into makeshift camps or across borders into neighbouring countries.
According to a 2024 UNHCR report, over 342,000 Nigerians who fled jihadist violence took refuge in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, with Niger hosting the largest share at approximately 200,000.
Although military efforts have significantly reduced jihadist attacks, sporadic raids and assaults on military bases continue.
In response, Borno State authorities have shut down most displacement camps, resettling people in their hometowns despite ongoing security concerns.
