At least 1,100 Nigerian migrants stranded in Agadez, Niger Republic, have returned to Nigeria through Kano State, the Nigeria Immigration Service confirmed on Friday.
The returnees arrived by road and were immediately taken through processing and reintegration procedures coordinated by federal and state agencies.
Commandant of the Immigration Training School, Kano, Anthony Akuneme, said the migrants are undergoing documentation through the Migration Information and Data Analysis System before being moved to the International Transit and Stay of Knowledge centre for profiling, counselling, and reintegration support.
“Personnel of KNSC, MAKIA and ITSK are fully on ground with other relevant federal and state agencies to ensure hitch-free and safe processing,” Akuneme stated.
The Kano Nationality Sortation Centre, MAKIA, and ITSK serve as the official reception points for returning migrants. The framework is managed jointly by the Nigeria Immigration Service, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, the International Organisation for Migration, and state government agencies.
Agadez in northern Niger has long been a transit point for migrants attempting to travel through Libya to Europe. The route saw heavy movement between 2015 and 2018, and migration agencies report renewed activity following the 2023 military coup in Niger and the withdrawal of foreign forces.
According to UNHCR data released in April 2026, at least 269,010 Nigerians displaced by insurgency in the Northeast are currently taking refuge in Niger’s Diffa region. The IOM said thousands of stranded Nigerians have been assisted to return home from Niger since 2017, many of them young men whose attempts to reach Europe were unsuccessful.
