German-Nigerian Deportees Decry Treatment at National Migration Dialogue

German-Nigerian deportees who recently participated in the National Migration Dialogue held in Abuja have expressed deep disappointment over what they described as their poor treatment and exclusion from meaningful engagement at the event, which was meant to address migration challenges and the experiences of returned migrants, particularly those subjected to forced and illegal deportations from Europe.

The dialogue, organised by the Civil Society for Migration and Development (CSF) under the theme Strategies for State-Level Engagement for the Implementation of the 2025 National Migration Policy, brought together stakeholders including representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the European Union (EU), and the Federal Government, alongside some migrants deported from various countries, especially Germany.

One of the deportees at the event, Bright Obasuyi, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the outcome, stating that the programme failed to give victims of forced and illegal deportation the opportunity to share their traumatic experiences or seek redress for the injustices they suffered while abroad.

Obasuyi alleged that Nigerian authorities showed little interest in addressing the maltreatment of their citizens overseas, recalling how officials allegedly turned a blind eye when he was brutalised by German immigration officers at the Lagos International Airport during his deportation from Germany.

He recounted that German officials allegedly subjected him to severe torture, including the use of an electric shock device and physically restraining him to his seat throughout the eight-hour flight to Nigeria, an ordeal he said nearly cut off his breathing and left lasting physical and emotional scars.

“All the ill-treatment they meted out on me is already trending on social media. So what exactly should I expect from an event like this, where victims are not even given the chance to speak about what they went through?” he said..

“This is how things are done properly in Europe, through the courts and open discussion, but in Nigeria we hide the truth. They only talk about integration, which is not the reality for most deportees,” he added.

Other deportees at the event, including Richie Idemudia and Wealth Ogbo, also shared similar frustrations, alleging that despite claims of reintegration support by government representatives, none of them had received any form of assistance since returning to Nigeria, while stakeholders of the event have been urged to allow deportees speak freely in future dialogues to ensure that migration policies reflect their lived realities.