Nigeria–UK migration pact guarantees returnees benefits to personal belongings, others — Presidency

The Presidency has clarified that Nigerians to be returned from the United Kingdom under the Nigeria–UK Migration Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be entitled to return with their legally acquired personal belongings and other safeguards designed to ensure their dignified treatment.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the Special Adviser to the president on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency said the provision marks a departure from past experiences where some deported migrants returned without their property.

“A key provision in the MoU is that the migrant to be returned must carry his legally acquired personal belongings to the country of destination, unlike in the past when migrants left with nothing,” the statement said.

According to the Presidency, the agreement signed during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s state visit to the UK also allows returnees time to make arrangements regarding their assets.

Quoting Article 12 of the agreement, the statement noted: “Every returnee will be given ample opportunity to make adequate arrangements for the transfer or disposal of his property in the territory of the requesting party, under the supervision of the mission of the requested party.”

The clarification, according to the Presidency, became necessary following what it described as misinformation about the migration partnership. It stressed that the agreement does not compel Nigeria to accept foreign nationals other than its citizens.

“Nowhere in the 12-page memorandum is Nigeria required to accept foreign nationals other than Nigerians,” the statement said.

The Presidency also explained that only verified nationals of either country would be repatriated after multiple levels of identification checks and that any person wrongly returned would be taken back by the requesting country at its own expense.

“If subsequent evidence shows that a returnee who has been returned is not a national of the requested party, the requesting party will take the person back to its territory at the requesting party’s cost,” it added.