• Sunday, April 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

#ENDSARS: Egypt to deport Nigerians for protesting in Cairo without permit

Abike-Dabiri

The Egyptian authorities have said that seven out of the eight #ENDSARS Nigerians who protested in Egypt on October18, will be deported to Nigeria for lack of resident permits/ visas.

A statement issued by the Head of Media and Public Relations of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission(NIDCOM), Abdur-Rahman Balogun, noted that The Chairman/CEO of NIDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who has been following the matter, confirmed this on Monday in Abuja.

She said the only Nigerian among them who has residency permit will get final clearance from the Egyptian Interior Minister, Mahmoud Tawfik after signing an undertaking not to be involved in any unauthorised activities while still in the country.

She explained that the Nigerian mission in Egypt is still pleading for leniency on behalf of the seven Nigerians slated for deportation.

The NIDCOM boss, however, denied the allegation that the Federal government of Nigeria was involved in the Nigerians’ arrest, adding that the Nigerians were not arrested at the Nigerian Embassy but at another location.

“The Nigerian mission in Cairo has had extensive deliberations with the Cairo Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Interior as well as the Diplomatic Police, adding that the eight detained Nigerians, four men and four women,were assured of decent treatment while in detention,” she said.

Dabiri-Erewa reiterated her appeals to Nigerians abroad to be good ambassadors of the country by being law abiding to the laws of their respective host countries,the statement said.

She commended Nigerians in diaspora who have conducted themselves in a disciplined and peaceful manner during their protest for an end to police brutality in Nigeria, reiterating the President ’s commitment to implementing the five point demand,and urged Nigerian youths to embrace dialogue as their voices can definitely not be ignored.