The Federal Government has condemned in strong terms the alleged profiling and detention of Nigerians and others African nationals in Polish detention centres.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NIDCOM Abike Dabiri-Erewa, in a statement yesterday by the commission’s Media, Public Relations and Protocol Unit, Gabriel Odu, said the profiling and detention of Nigerians and other African nationals in the detention centres was highly unacceptable and reprehensible.
She spoke in Abuja at the Psycho-social Trauma Clinic for Ukraine returnees organised in partnership with National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) and Project Victory Call Initiative (PVC).
She noted that though President Muhammadu Buhari had made every necessary arrangements for Nigerians caught up in the war situation to return home, some chose to remain in some countries like Poland, stressing that the most appropriate action for Poland to take was to return them back to their countries, rather than keep them in tortuous detention centres.
The NiDCOM boss said the two-day clinic was the preliminary, as it will be a continuous exercise in the six geo-political zones, stating that NiDCOM has also partnered with The Sunshine Series by creating a 24 hours helpline (#112) for returnees, who need counseling.
Also speaking, the Federal Commissioner, Refugees Commission, Mrs. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, said: “We tend to ignore our mental health, but mental health is key. As Nigerians, we have a lot of resilience and we have that ability, but not everybody has the same threshold when it comes to resilience and hence the need for this particular platform so that those that need extra support or extra care and assistance, can be able to access it.”
The Nation
