The United Kingdom on Thursday deported 61 Nigerians, including three minors, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. The deportees were flown into Nigeria in the early hours of the day in a chattered aircraft. Those deported include 47 males and 11 females who were received and screened at the cargo terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport by the officials from the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
An immigration source, who pleaded anonymity, said they were deported for immigration-related offences. Some of the deportees who spoke with NAN alleged that most of them were sent back because their visas have expired.
A deportee, Eniola Adefuja said that her visa had expired since May and she was still in the process of renewing it when she was picked up by the police. She added that she was not allowed to pick up her personal effects before being flown to Nigeria.
Another deportee who simply identified herself as Juliet, claimed that she was also arrested by the British Immigration officer over expired documents. “My visa expired and they said I could no longer reside in the UK; that is why I was brought back home,” she said.

Culled from Next