The agency said officers drawn from several federal and state institutions were deployed to receive the returnees, where they are being processed, counselled, and prepared for reintegration with their families across the country.
The Commandant of the Immigration Training School in Kano, Anthony Akuneme, who shared details alongside video footage of the arrival, explained that the migrants were undergoing structured documentation and profiling procedures.
He noted that the returnees are being captured through the Migration Information and Data Analysis System at the Migrants Arrival, Knowledge and Information Area before further assessment at the International Transit and Stay of Knowledge centre.
“They are being documented via MIDAS at the MAKIA, after which they will proceed to ITSK for final profiling, counseling and reintergration with their various families.
Akuneme further stated that multiple agencies, including personnel from the Kano Nationality Sortation Centre, MAKIA, ITSK, and other relevant federal and state bodies, are actively involved in ensuring smooth processing.
“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 wrote in a terse statement titled ‘1,100 Nigerian returnees from Agadez, Niger Republic, just landed in Kano by road.’
Kano centres process returnees under FG reintegration scheme
The processing hubs in Kano, MAKIA, ITSK, and related centres, currently function as structured corridors where returning migrants are received, documented, and linked to reintegration services.
The reintegration programme is jointly implemented by the Nigeria Immigration Service, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and relevant state government agencies.
The latest arrival reflects a continuing pattern of assisted and spontaneous returns from Agadez, a key transit city in northern Niger Republic that has long served as a major route for West African migrants attempting to reach Libya and ultimately Europe via the Mediterranean.
At its peak between 2015 and 2018, Agadez was a central migration hub through which hundreds of thousands of migrants passed annually during the West Africa–Europe migration corridor.
However, Niger’s introduction of anti-smuggling legislation under international pressure significantly reduced formal transit activity, even though irregular movement has persisted along the route.
The 2023 military coup that removed President Mohamed Bazoum, alongside the withdrawal of French and United States forces, further weakened the region’s migration control and security framework.
Recent data from the International Organisation for Migration indicates renewed movement along the corridor in recent months, despite ongoing instability.
Nigerians remain one of the largest groups among migrants returning through the Agadez route.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 269,010 Nigerians who fled conflict in the North-East are currently taking refuge in Niger’s Diffa region as of its April 2026 data.
The IOM has also reported that its operations in Niger have facilitated voluntary humanitarian returns for thousands of stranded Nigerians since 2017, many of whom are young men from northern states who originally intended to travel to Europe but became stranded due to financial constraints, detention, or the collapse of smuggling networks.
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