- Many children languishing in detention camps
No fewer than 400 Nigerians were recently repatriated back home from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Four hundred which consist of 90 females and 310 males, were received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by officials from the Office of the National Security Adviser, in collaboration with the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, the National Emergency Management Agency, and other relevant stakeholders.
No reason was given for their deportation from the oil-rich gulf country, which was gradually becoming another mecca for many Nigerians until the recent spat between both countries leading to visa ban and stoppage of direct flight.
While Nigeria was eager to end the dispute which stretched into about two years, UAE seems not to be in the mood and so it lingered on until recently when UAE announced the resumption of direct flight between both countries and the lifting of the visa ban starting from July 2024.
The announcement was received with great joy by Nigerians both at home and abroad, but unknown to Nigeria, it also marked the beginning of another trouble for many of its citizens in the oil-rich country, as the UAE authorities clamped down on Nigeria citizens and in swoop no less than 400 were deported.
This action is coming at the heel of the UAE government pronouncing amnesty for irregular migrants in the country.
According to one of the deportees, the amnesty which was meant to be for irregular migrants of all nationalities seems to have been targeted at just Nigerians only.
The amnesty came to effect from September 1 2024 but on the same day, UAE police swamped on Nigerians busting their doors and pushing them into detention camps.
According to Bob Osazuwa, it does not matter if your papers are valid or not, once you are a Nigerian you are picked up.
He said lots of people with legitimate papers including a husband and wife running an African shop were part of the victims of the deportation.
He also said that lots of Nigerians, including children are still kept in the detention camp.
He said from what the police were saying the authorities just want Nigerians out of their country.
Narrating his experience, Osazuwa who was based in Sharjah and Al-Nahda said he is still finding it difficult to come to terms with the kind of humiliations and suffering he endured during the 10 days incarceration in the detention camp before his eventual deportation.
The Edo-born graduate of Fine and Applied Art Education, Delta State University said he had stayed in Dubai for seven years before the harrowing experience.
He said: I’ve been there for seven years, I went there in 2017, February 2nd, that’s when I got there.
“So I was actually working, before I left the job I resigned, so I got another job, which I was working and was there. But fast forward to this main event, which happened on the 1st of September, it was a very tragic and very sad one. You know, we were at home, I was in my house, and it was around 2 am because I had just finished watching Channels’ News, which is 10 o’clock in Nigeria time and 1 am UAE time.
“So I just finished watching Channels’ News, which was like a few minutes past 2 am. The next thing I heard was banging on the door, not banging like knocking, like they were breaking down the door three times. So before I knew it, I opened my room door, because it’s a flat, I opened my room door, and I saw this SWAT, black and black, with the mask and everything. Harassing us, slapping us, kicking us.
“Before we knew it, they handcuffed us behind our back, not with the chain handcuffs, the plastic ones. So they took all of us, told us to kneel down, and we knelt down. They only asked one question, Nigerian? They did not ask for your resident ID or anything.”
While the harassment was ongoing, Osazuwa said he tried as much as possible to find out what the issue was but there were no answers from the police officers.
According to him, the only they asked them was their IDs, “once you are identified as a Nigerian, then they bounce on you.”
According to him: “All they were asking was, are you a Nigerian? Yes. They will slap you, they will kick you. So they took us out, made us sit on the floor, and then finally put us inside the elevator.
“When we got down, we saw a lot of people, they were already down. Everybody was seated on the floor. So they bundled all of us, and put us on the bus.
“They later told some ladies to come down from our bus. I think it was filled up, so I think they put them on another bus. Took us to a detention camp.
“We were there for nine days, which was from the first to the tenth. It was tragic, we could not shower, we could not brush our teeth, we could not change clothes. This is what I had on that day.
“Since the first of September, this is what I am still wearing, because they are yet to send my things for me. So we were there, everybody was there
“So we kept on asking questions, what did we do? They kept on telling us to shut up. They would come, they would call some names, they would take those ones away.
“Later, there was a day they came, they called people to come and sign some forms. Me, I wasn’t called, but the people they called, according to them, they said on the form, part of the form was written, the reason for deportation or so. And they were asked by the CIDs over there to write “Nigerian government”.
“So they were wondering, why would I write to the Nigerian government? But you can’t speak, you don’t have the right to speak. They were forced to write to the Nigerian government. So some of them wrote it and some said they would not write. Why would they write to the Nigerian government? So they took them back inside the cell.
“It wasn’t funny. So on the 10th September we were all asked to come out, they searched us, searched everything. They then handcuffed us again, put us in the bus, drove us on a convoy of 20-something vehicles, took us straight to the front of the aircraft, MAX Air, a Boeing 744 or 715, I can’t remember, but it’s a Boeing, the double-decker aircraft.
“So before we came out from the bus, they had to cut off the handcuffs. From what I noticed and from what I observed, they did not want the Nigerian officials to see us like that. Because of the Nigerian officials, they were standing outside the plane and they were very nice and hospitable.
“So they did not want them to see us, so they had to start cutting the handcuffs off our hands. They told us to come out, put us inside the plane and that was what happened.”
Osazuwa also had kind words for President Bola Tinubu and Nigerian officials, saying Nigerian officials were very professional.
He said: “They told us not to worry that the president sent them to come pick us and they said they have been on ground since Monday, but the UAE government refused to release us to them till Wednesday. That they kept on playing them up and down till Wednesday.”
Isazuwa insisted that there was never any indication or prior notice that such a thing was going to happen.
He explained that “As a matter of fact, amnesty started that day because the UAE government announced that there would be an amnesty from the 1st of September to the 1st of November, two months. So we were all happy that those ones that do not have valid residence could renew their residence or exit the country. So that was why the whole thing was funny because there was amnesty.
” Amnesty, as in they gave amnesty like if you know you are not valid in the country, if you know you do not have valid documents, from the 1st of September to the 1st of November, do well to rectify your documentation or leave the country. That was the option that the UAE government gave from the 1st of September to the 1st of November. But funnily enough, they took us on the 1st of September which was the day the amnesty started.
“More than 80% of us had our papers. It was terrible. A lot of us came back with our emirate ID, like the residence permit.
“A lot of them have theirs. But mine has expired already so I was already contemplating leaving the country. I was already thinking of leaving that week, like that week, maybe Wednesday, Thursday.
“So I was already trying to get some things and all that. But they came on Saturday or let me say early Sunday morning.”
The shell-shocked Osazuwa said he does not have any criminal records.
He also explained that those with criminal records were separated in the detention camp and were not part of the deportees.
” I think those ones had issues, probably criminal issues. So those did not come back with us.
NO fewer than 400 Nigerians were recently repatriated back home from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Four hundred which consist of 90 females and 310 males, were received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by officials from the Office of the National Security Adviser, in collaboration with the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, the National Emergency Management Agency, and other relevant stakeholders.
No reason was given for their deportation from the oil-rich gulf country, which was gradually becoming another mecca for many Nigerians until the recent spat between both countries leading to visa ban and stoppage of direct flight.
While Nigeria was eager to end the dispute which stretched into about two years, UAE seems not to be in the mood and so it lingered on until recently when UAE announced the resumption of direct flight between both countries and the lifting of the visa ban starting from July 2024.
The announcement was received with great joy by Nigerians both at home and abroad, but unknown to Nigeria, it also marked the beginning of another trouble for many of its citizens in the oil-rich country, as the UAE authorities clamped down on Nigeria citizens and in swoop no less than 400 were deported.
This action is coming at the heel of the UAE government pronouncing amnesty for irregular migrants in the country.
According to one of the deportees, the amnesty which was meant to be for irregular migrants of all nationalities seems to have been targeted at just Nigerians only.
The amnesty came to effect from September 1 2024 but on the same day, UAE police swamped on Nigerians busting their doors and pushing them into detention camps.
According to Bob Osazuwa, it does not matter if your papers are valid or not, once you are a Nigerian you are picked up.
He said lots of people with legitimate papers including a husband and wife running an African shop were part of the victims of the deportation.
He also said that lots of Nigerians, including children are still kept in the detention camp.
He said from what the police were saying the authorities just want Nigerians out of their country.
Narrating his experience, Osazuwa who was based in Sharjah and Al-Nahda said he is still finding it difficult to come to terms with the kind of humiliations and suffering he endured during the 10 days incarceration in the detention camp before his eventual deportation.
The Edo-born graduate of Fine and Applied Art Education, Delta State University said he had stayed in Dubai for seven years before the harrowing experience.
He said: I’ve been there for seven years, I went there in 2017, February 2nd, that’s when I got there.
“So I was actually working, before I left the job I resigned, so I got another job, which I was working and was there. But fast forward to this main event, which happened on the 1st of September, it was a very tragic and very sad one. You know, we were at home, I was in my house, and it was around 2 am because I had just finished watching Channels’ News, which is 10 o’clock in Nigeria time and 1 am UAE time.
“So I just finished watching Channels’ News, which was like a few minutes past 2 am. The next thing I heard was banging on the door, not banging like knocking, like they were breaking down the door three times. So before I knew it, I opened my room door, because it’s a flat, I opened my room door, and I saw this SWAT, black and black, with the mask and everything. Harassing us, slapping us, kicking us.
“Before we knew it, they handcuffed us behind our back, not with the chain handcuffs, the plastic ones. So they took all of us, told us to kneel down, and we knelt down. They only asked one question, Nigerian? They did not ask for your resident ID or anything.”
While the harassment was ongoing, Osazuwa said he tried as much as possible to find out what the issue was but there were no answers from the police officers.
According to him, the only they asked them was their IDs, “once you are identified as a Nigerian, then they bounce on you.”
According to him: “All they were asking was, are you a Nigerian? Yes. They will slap you, they will kick you. So they took us out, made us sit on the floor, and then finally put us inside the elevator.
“When we got down, we saw a lot of people, they were already down. Everybody was seated on the floor. So they bundled all of us, and put us on the bus.
“They later told some ladies to come down from our bus. I think it was filled up, so I think they put them on another bus. Took us to a detention camp.
“We were there for nine days, which was from the first to the tenth. It was tragic, we could not shower, we could not brush our teeth, we could not change clothes. This is what I had on that day.
“Since the first of September, this is what I am still wearing, because they are yet to send my things for me. So we were there, everybody was there
“So we kept on asking questions, what did we do? They kept on telling us to shut up. They would come, they would call some names, they would take those ones away.
“Later, there was a day they came, they called people to come and sign some forms. Me, I wasn’t called, but the people they called, according to them, they said on the form, part of the form was written, the reason for deportation or so. And they were asked by the CIDs over there to write “Nigerian government”.
“So they were wondering, why would I write to the Nigerian government? But you can’t speak, you don’t have the right to speak. They were forced to write to the Nigerian government. So some of them wrote it and some said they would not write. Why would they write to the Nigerian government? So they took them back inside the cell.
“It wasn’t funny. So on the 10th September we were all asked to come out, they searched us, searched everything. They then handcuffed us again, put us in the bus, drove us on a convoy of 20-something vehicles, took us straight to the front of the aircraft, MAX Air, a Boeing 744 or 715, I can’t remember, but it’s a Boeing, the double-decker aircraft.
“So before we came out from the bus, they had to cut off the handcuffs. From what I noticed and from what I observed, they did not want the Nigerian officials to see us like that. Because of the Nigerian officials, they were standing outside the plane and they were very nice and hospitable.
“So they did not want them to see us, so they had to start cutting the handcuffs off our hands. They told us to come out, put us inside the plane and that was what happened.”
Osazuwa also had kind words for President Bola Tinubu and Nigerian officials, saying Nigerian officials were very professional.
He said: “They told us not to worry that the president sent them to come pick us and they said they have been on ground since Monday, but the UAE government refused to release us to them till Wednesday. That they kept on playing them up and down till Wednesday.”
Isazuwa insisted that there was never any indication or prior notice that such a thing was going to happen.
He explained that “As a matter of fact, amnesty started that day because the UAE government announced that there would be an amnesty from the 1st of September to the 1st of November, two months. So we were all happy that those ones that do not have valid residence could renew their residence or exit the country. So that was why the whole thing was funny because there was amnesty.
” Amnesty, as in they gave amnesty like if you know you are not valid in the country, if you know you do not have valid documents, from the 1st of September to the 1st of November, do well to rectify your documentation or leave the country. That was the option that the UAE government gave from the 1st of September to the 1st of November. But funnily enough, they took us on the 1st of September which was the day the amnesty started.
“More than 80% of us had our papers. It was terrible. A lot of us came back with our emirate ID, like the residence permit.
“A lot of them have theirs. But mine has expired already so I was already contemplating leaving the country. I was already thinking of leaving that week, like that week, maybe Wednesday, Thursday.
“So I was already trying to get some things and all that. But they came on Saturday or let me say early Sunday morning.”
The shell-shocked Osazuwa said he does not have any criminal records.
He also explained that those with criminal records were separated in the detention camp and were not part of the deportees.
” I think those ones had issues, probably criminal issues. So those did not come back with us.
“So we saw those ones, like six guys, they handcuffed them. And those ones did not come back with us. So I think those ones are still there.”
Osazuwa said he is yet to understand why they were deported even after arriving in Nigeria.
He said all efforts to get information about their case met stone walls while at the detention camp.
He said: “So they did biometrics for almost everybody. See, sometimes when they came in the morning because it got to a point, we wanted to protest inside the jail. It’s funny, like why are we here? So their superior had to come.
“So we asked them, sir, we don’t have anybody with criminal issues here. More than half of the people here have valid residence permits and all that. The man said he knew.
“That was what he said. He said he knows. He talked about his working with instructions that Nigerians should leave.
“That was what he told us. He said he’s only working with instructions.”
He said he doesn’t know what they have against Nigeria, adding “Up till now, we still do not know.”
He said the amnesty was for everybody to benefit from but only Nigerians were held up at the detention camp and only Nigerians were raided
Osazuwa also buttressed his point that the UAE has something against Nigeria as other nationalities were spared the harrowing experience.
He cited the case of a Sierra Leonean who was arrested alongside the Nigerians but was released immediately after they confirmed he is not a Nigerian.
He stressed that “It was a very terrible situation because some people are still there at the detention camps and they have kids. Some kids are there. Some Nigerian kids with their mom inside the jail right now, as I’m speaking to you.
“One-year-old, two-year-old. I mean, there were 400 males and 90 females that were on that aircraft.”
He said though there were no kids in his prison but reports from other deportees indicated that there were children and women still held back in other camps.
“ Because people that were in another camp said that there were kids inside there.”
He also hinted at more deportations as there are still more Nigerians there
Osazuwa is still wondering why they were deported. All efforts to get information about their case met stone walls while at the detention camp, even after undergoing biometrics for almost everybody.
He is still at a loss about what the country has against Nigeria.
While amnesty is for everybody to benefit from, he disclosed that only Nigerians were held up at the detention camp and only Nigerians were raided
He cited the case of a Sierra Leonean who was arrested alongside the Nigerians but was released immediately they confirmed he is not a Nigerian.
He stressed that “It was a very terrible situation because some people are still there at the detention camps and they have kids. Some kids are there. Some Nigerian kids with their mom inside the jail right now, as I’m speaking to you.
“One-year-old, two-year-old. I mean, there were 400 males and 90 females that were on that aircraft.”
He said though there were no kids in his own prison, reports from other deportees indicated that there were children and women still held back in other camps.
Osazuwa said those who were able to escape arrest are currently hiding either in hotels or sleeping in their cars.
On his next step of action, Osazuwa said “I’m just, first of all, trying to get myself together and liaise with my family and probably get a place here in Abuja because right now, I don’t have a job.
Osazuwa said he was employed from Nigeria in 2017 by Sharjah taxi and he worked as a driver.
“Then I left to become an accountant in one Al-Hayat Technical Service before my ordeal.
As it is right now, many of the deportees are sure that their belongings would have been looted, as is the normal practice whenever any home is raided by the police. ‘The locals go into such houses to loot their properties.
“As a matter of fact, some of us that came back lost a lot. Because some of them had cash in their house. Some people came back with just boxers and singlets.”
Some days before they came to his building, the Dubai police had earlier raided some buildings. “ I was not even surprised because I know some of those people and I know that those people, they are into some shady deals. “So, I wasn’t bothered because I know normally they come like that, but they will just come for the person they came for. It’s normal. That’s what they do.
“But this one was surprising. Then, coupled with the fact that it was during Amnesty, so that was why we could not understand.
“So, as a matter of fact, when we were going, we were so confident because we thought maybe one day, two days, we will just get everything resolved.”
He said he never saw it coming because some of the people arrested had valid residence permits. “Like one of my friends, we even attend the same church. He said they broke into his house. His wife is seven months pregnant. The wife was even naked, according to him. The wife was crying. They took him and left his wife. The man has his residency permit.
“We came back together. And not just him. Another one said his wife and their baby were crying when they still took him. All of us came back together.”
Osazuwa said he could not explain why they were taking the husband and leaving the wife.
Osazuwa hailed President Bola Tinubu, saying “Kudos to him and kudos to all the team that he sent. I think they were the DSS. They did a very great job. They took very good care of us. Even when we got to Nigeria, they took very good care of us.
“They were very hospitable and gave us everything. For all the days that we were in camp, they took very good care of us.”
On what he thinks that the Nigerian government should do, Osazuwa said the government needs to find out what the issue is and so that they can tackle it for the sake of some Nigerians still in the UAE.
“I think, for me, I would say, I don’t know, the Nigerian government, they should really find out what the problem is. If it’s something they can resolve, I think they should resolve it because I think a lot of people are still going to suffer the same fate. That’s the truth.
