Press Conference in Nigeria Highlights Concerns Over Treatment of Returnees from Europe
Some CSOs attend the press briefing. Second from right: Comrade Osita Osemene; third from right: Dr Emeka Obiezu. Credits: Ngozi Uzomah, 2025
A coalition of civil society organizations held a press conference in Abuja to demand accountability and humane treatment of Nigerian returnees deported from Europe. The event brought together journalists, activists, and concerned citizens to address growing concerns over human rights violations in the deportation process.
The case of Nigerian deportee Bright Obasuyi, who arrived in Lagos on January 22, 2025, was on the front burner of discussions on return flights from Germany. Dr. Emeka Obiezu, National Coordinator of the Civil Society Network for Migration and Development (CSOnetMADE), explained in more detail what happened with Bright: "Despite his documented medical conditions, including schizophrenia and epilepsy, German immigration officers forcibly removed him at midnight from his home, beat him up, and chained him on a flight for deportation." This incident is part of wider patterns of inhumane treatment during deportation practices that expose returnees to grave physical and psychosocial distress.Comrade Osita Osemene, the National Secretary of the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse, and Labour (NACTAL), observed continued cooperation between Nigeria and Germany in return and reintegration programs with the support of GIZ. He argued that deportation is to be applied only as a last resort: “Only where all avenues available for regularization of the status of such migrants have been explored.".
Through the press release, CSOs demanded immediate action to guarantee the dignity and well-being of returnees, emphasizing accountability in deportation. Reports presented at the event showed disturbing cases of mistreatment, illegal detention, and insufficient support for reintegration. Returnees reported that in some cases, they arrived in critical condition; one reportedly even died upon arrival at the airport. Another deportee, who urgently needed medical attention, has also disappeared, raising suspicions of an attempt to cover up human rights abuses.
CSOnetMADE and NACTAL have called on the Nigerian government to act promptly to protect the rights of returnees and to put in place mechanisms to ensure that further abuses are avoided. Their call underlines the need for a more humane and rights-based approach to return migration policies between Nigeria and the European Union.For more about the press conference, click on the links below:
https://web.facebook.com/100051870349206/videos/3862825407323382/
https://web.facebook.com/Nactalnigerianew
https://web.facebook.com/reel/1412481270136130