Xenophobia: Nigerian govt to give returnees from South Africa sim cards, airtime and soft loans– Official

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Executive Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), has urged state governments to ensure proper reintegration of returnees from South Africa into the society.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa made the appeal at a World News Conference in Abuja on Monday.

She said that the second batch of 319 returnees would be leaving South Africa for Nigeria on Tuesday.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa said that the number of returnees would depend on those who registered to return, adding that the process would be continuous.

The NIDCOM Chief said that the first batch, which included 30 children, who were profiled arrived in the country on September 11 on a state-by-state basis.

“We expect the state governments to take responsibility for their citizens that have returned.

”We have the contacts of the returnees which would be communicated to their respective states.

“The returnees are not criminals but very hardworking Nigerians, who have lost everything they ever worked for in South Africa.

“Their only crime is being black and Nigerian,” she said.

The NIDCOM boss said that among the returnees were fathers separated from their children and a widow with four children, who had already been offered scholarships.

“Each returnee got a SIM card and airtime to last two months and some money for transportation.

“The Bank of Industry has the contacts of these returnees and would contact them for soft loans.

“As returnees settle in, we are going to profile them and do a need assessment for them,” she said.