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Louis Ibah
The Italian government has deported 17 Nigerians for drug trafficking and for the breach of the country’s immigration laws.
The deportees, comprising 16 males and one female, returned to Nigeria yesterday onboard a Boeing 737 flight AXE 2310, owned by Air Explore, through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
A source close to one of the security agencies at the airport said that the 16 men were deported for immigration offences, while the only female was deported for drug trafficking.
Those deported for immigration offences, it was gathered, overstayed in Italy, while others were arrested for holding expired visas or lack of residence permits, among other offences.
The source said that, after the deportees were profiled by officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), they were allowed to leave the airport, while the female with the drug-related case was handed over to officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
Last December (2018), Austria, Germany, Hungry, Switzerland, Norway and Denmark deported 41 Nigerians for various offences.
The deportees were brought back to Nigeria in a chartered Boeing 767-300 named Privilege Air, with registration number ECLZO, from Austria through the Lagos airport.
