Ugwuanyi receives Enugu returnees from Libya, promises to reintegrate them

Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi yesterday received 10 out of the 11 indigenes of the state who were among the 490 Nigerians that were recently repatriated from Libya with a promise to reintegrate them with their families.

Addressing the returnees at the Government House, Enugu, the governor thanked God for their safe return and expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari and his team for facilitating their return to the country.

He said a female returnee from the state did not come with others because she was currently receiving medical attention in Port Harcourt.

Narrating their ordeals, the returnees thanked God for their safe return after the trauma they experienced in Libya. They also applauded the Federal Government for the “surprised” intervention and Governor Ugwuanyi for receiving them back to the state.

The returnees said it was only God that sustained them in Libya, as they experienced several inhuman treatments in the hands of the Libyans. They said it was because of their pitiable conditions in Nigeria that they travelled to Libya, stressing that they had no bad intention.

“It was only God that saved us. I never believed I will return to Nigeria. I trusted my hope in God. I didn’t have any bad intention travelling to Libya. It was because of my condition that I travelled out. I was a shoemaker in Nigeria. I sold my tools, everything, to be able to travel,”, one of the returnees, Hyacinth Mathias Ikechukwu said.

Another returnee, James Chioma Ogbo said: “While I was in the prison, I was surprised to hear that the Federal Government sent people to come and rescue us.”

The Executive Secretary of State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mrs. Nkechi Eneh, who accompanied the returnees to the Government House, disclosed that the governor “quickly” provided the logistics for their return to Enugu from Port Harcourt, and thanked him for his prompt response.

A prayer session was also held in honour of the returnees and other Nigerians in similar conditions abroad by the Chaplain of the Government House, Rev. Fr. Chinedu Ozoude and Archbishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, who was represented by Venerable Emeka Ezeji.