The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has tasked faith and community based organizations to join government in preaching against irregular migration and the get-rich-quick syndrome in the society.
The Director-General of NEMA, Engr. Mustapha Maihajja stated this while receiving another batch of 164 stranded Nigerians repatriated from Libya by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Thursday night.
The returnees including 17 with medical cases arrived at the Cargo Wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
They included 61 female adults including seven pregnant women, 96 male adults, two children and five Infants who came in aboard a chartered Libyan Airline with registration number 5A-DMG which touched down at the airport at about 8:50 p.m. on Thursday night.
The NEMA DG represented by Southwest Zonal Coordinator, Alh Yakubu Suleiman appealed to religious and community based organizations in leading attitudinal change towards discouraging irregular migration.
He said the trend of irregular migration is impacting negatively on the country and solicited the support of religious leaders; some of whom he said mislead the youths to embark on the perilous journey.
"When these organizations embrace the governments’ efforts at curbing the menace of irregular emigration that has led to the death of several youths and rendered many incapacitated, the scourge of irregular migration will be minimized.
"As much as these bodies can cause positive change, which the government is aware of, some of them are culpable in misleading the youths based on revelations of some of the returnees.
Thus, the need for concerted efforts by all to discourage irregular emigration", the DG was quoted as saying.
