SAN FRANCISCO, August 23, (THEWILL) – About 133 Nigerian refugees, who are part of the over two million Nigerians displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency have returned from neighbouring Cameroon.
The 133 returnees touched down at the Yola International Airport aboard Nigerian Airforce C130 at about 5:00 p.m. local time on Thursday.
Officials of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, said the refugees volunteered to return home on their own.
Speaking to journalists, the Director, Refugees and Migrant Affairs of the commission, Lawal Hamidu, said that the exercise was not “repatriation, but the refugees voluntary signed to return to their ancestral homes.”
Some of the refugees described their experiences while in Cameroon as nasty, with one saying “life over there was difficult.”