Barely a month after the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos Command handed over a mentally challenged Nigerian male deportee, Osagie Favour to his family, the command on Wednesday also reunited another family.
This time around, a female Nigerian, Adepoju Oluwatoyin Ruth, who arrived in the country from Muscat in Oman aboard Egypt Air on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, with a mental disorder was reunited with her sister Adepoju Olamide at the airport.
Information gathered indicated that the returnee’s name was erroneously given as Olajide Oluwatoyin Ruth by Egypt Air, which could not be traced in the immigration system.
However, the command went the extra length to sort out her real names from its system and was able to contact the father who was said to be a residence of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
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The father in turn it was gathered directed by the sister of the returnee who is based in Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital to pick her up at the airport.
On arrival at the airport, the Command interrogated the sister, Olamide to prove her true identity, but it was learnt that the returnee immediately went berserk and incoherent with her communication.
It took the ingenuity of the officers of the command to calm her down and obtain necessary information from her.
As a result of her unstable condition, it was learnt that Abdullahi Dalhatu, the Comptroller, MMIA Command, ordered that the returnee be kept in the custody of Immigration for another 24 hours for better observation.
Further search into the details of the returnee indicated that she left Nigeria for Oman in 2019 and was engaged as a housemaid in that country.
A source close to the scene said that: “The lady who is in her 20s was brought into Nigeria by Egypt Air and handed over to NIS officials at the airport.
“But, the command went the extra miles to get the details of the girl and was able to connect with her father who we gather resides in Abuja. To cut the story short, the sister came on Wednesday evening to reunite with the returnee.”
The sister to the returnee, Olamide, expressed delight at reuniting with Oluwatoyin again and confirmed that she left Nigeria in 2019 in search of greener pastures.
She also commended the immigration officials at the airport for handling the issue with utmost professionalism, saying that her respect for the service, especially the command had increased.
When contacted, Dalhatu was reluctant to talk about the development, rather, referred our correspondent to the headquarters of the service in Abuja for more details.
He, however, advised Nigerians to be mindful of how they travel in search of ”greener pastures” in order not to fall, victim.
Besides, it was learnt that the returnee may be handed over to her family members today (Thursday) after a better transpiration arrangement has been made.
The command had in May equally reunited a Nigerian returnee with the same issue with his family and was lauded for his professional effort.
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