The Federal Government announced that over 6.1 million refugees and internally displaced persons are currently sheltered in northern states, according to Tijjani Aliyu, Federal Commissioner for the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI).
Speaking in Abuja on Monday, Aliyu revealed that Nigeria is gearing up to welcome additional refugees from the United States. He noted that the commission has constructed eight resettlement cities in select northern states to receive refugees from abroad, while 136 camps across the region now house over 6.1 million displaced persons.
Aliyu also outlined plans for multi-sectoral measures to repatriate and empower more than 100,000 Nigerian refugees living in neighbouring countries such as Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. In his remarks, he emphasized that Nigeria’s new leadership role in the Rabat Process—a major Euro-African dialogue on migration and development—will be leveraged to push for reforms in international immigration policies that currently disadvantage African nations.
