Report says 600k+ Nigerians sought foreign asylum under Buhari who degraded governance structures all round
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A new report shows more than 600,000 Nigerians filed for asylum in other countries between 2016 and 2023 that largely spanned the abysmal administration of Muhammadu Buhari who was President in a democracy but ruled like an Emir never accountable to citizens.
Buhari on 29 May 2023 handed over to Bola Tinubu, a member of the same All Progressives Congress (APC) who has since made living in the country considerably worse.
The report released on Wednesday by Statisense – a data collection organisation – said of the total 664,384 citizens who sought foreign asylum in eight years, 355,792 did between 2016 and 2019 and 308,592 between 2020 and 2023.
The report was posted on Statisense’s X.com handle @StatiSense, quoting the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRA).
The yearly figures are broken down as follows:
- 2016 – 66,862
- 2017 – 91,924
- 2018 – 84,624
- 2019 – 112,38
- 2020 – 73,233
- 2021 – 83,105
- 2022 – 83,402
- 2023 – 68,852
Statisense noted 869,175 Nigerians filed for asylum in foreign countries in the 12 years from 2004 to 2023 and 204,791 did in the 20 years from 2004 to 2023.
It disclosed Niger Republic topped countries with the most Nigerian refugees in 2023 – about 200,497 – and a total 1,268,464 between 2015 and 2023.
Niger Republic shares border with Nigeria’s Northern states where residents battle unrelenting insecurity in form of banditry, terrorism, and herdsmen-farmers conflicts.
Another report shows Nigerians topped the list of African nationals who sought asylum in Canada in 2023 with about 10,111 seekers, followed by Kenya (1,345).
A total 1,345 Nigerians in 2023 also sought asylum in the United Kingdom and 5,136 in the United States.
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