Nigeria admits over 250,000 of its citizens are refugees in Libya, Cameroon, South Sudan; sets up panel on likely deportations from US
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigeria has more than 250,000 of its citizens living as refugees in Libya, South Sudan, Cameroon, Chad, Niger Republic and other parts of the world, Abuja has officially acknowledged.
These are apart from those in internally displaced persons camps (IDPs) at home, especially across the six Northern zones.
Nigeria also hosts 135,000 refugees from other countries, according to the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), which provided the figures on Thursday after a road walk in Abuja to commemorate 2025 World Refugee Day.
Out of the 250,000 Nigerian refugees abroad, 125,000 are in Cameroon, said NCFRMI Federal Commissioner, Tijani Ahmed.
He disclosed that the Federal Government has set up a committee to look into the cases of Nigerian refugees in the United States who may be deported under the crackdown on immigration by President Donald Trump.
“We have a lot of refugees in Nigeria and outside Nigeria. In Nigeria today, we are hosting no less than 135,000 refugees,” Ahmed explained.
“We also have no less than 250,000 Nigerian refugees living in other parts of the world.
“Particularly, we have no less than 125,000 Nigerians living in Cameroon. We also have Nigerians in Chad, Niger, South Sudan, Libya, and other parts of the world.
“President Bola Tinubu has been supporting and is willing to offer more support to the commission to assist migrants, refugees and IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons).’’
On the likely deportation of some Nigerian migrants from the US, he said:
“As far as we are concerned, it is a policy statement. However, Nigeria has been very proactive, and we have constituted a committee to look into it in case it becomes a reality. We are ready to receive our people and provide them with the kind of livelihood and support they deserve.
“The Nigerian government is ready for that. The Nigerian government has already constituted a committee and is awaiting any action that might come from the U.S. So, there is no cause for alarm.’’
Alozie Godfrey, a Senior Humanitarian Officer at the ECOWAS Commission, highlighted the efforts of the commission to support persons of concern in the region.
Said he: “Last year, we basically assisted refugees in all ECOWAS 15 member states, and all their persons of concern, to the tune of about $9 million. The government of Nigeria got about $1.7 million of this money.
“This year, we are also working to assist refugees and internally displaced persons all around West Africa, and particularly in Nigeria, where we have our headquarters, to make sure that refugees are given the rights they are supposed to get, and make sure that we also assist them.
“ECOWAS Commission remains concerned with issues of refugees, and we will continue to work hand in glove with our partners to make sure that we assist them to the best of our ability, given the lean resources that we have.”
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