Nigerians being held in a deportation camp in New Delhi, India, have accused the Nigerian High Commission of neglecting their plight, alleging that hundreds of citizens remain stranded despite securing travel documents and paying for flight tickets to return home.
Speaking with reporters from the deportation camp, one of the victims, who identified himself simply as Onyeka, lamented that officials of the Nigerian Embassy have repeatedly failed to honour promises to facilitate their return home.
“We need help, please. The Nigerian Embassy is not working here. We are doing nothing here. We are just suffering here,” Onyeka said.
“Indian immigration officers just brought us and dumped us in their deportation camp here. The only crime we committed is that our documents have expired. But we are ready to go. People have bought their tickets, but they refused to allow us to go.”
“We want the Nigerian government to help us. Let us leave this place. We have bought our tickets. We have paid all kinds of money. But they still refuse to let us go.”
“More than 20 people have bought their tickets here. We are more than 400 here,” Onyeka said.
“Especially me, I’m not okay here. I need help, please. I have been here (the deportation camp) since June 5, 2026. I have been calling the Nigerian Embassy. I have been talking to them.”
“All their promises are zero. They have not done anything. Other countries have been coming here to see their people, but our own never come.”
Onyeka said that while some countries promptly intervene on behalf of their citizens, Nigerians have allegedly been left to fend for themselves.
“If you want to deport somebody, you can just deport that person. What other countries do is, if you have an illegal immigrant, you deport them,” he said.
“But here, some people have spent six months, some people have spent one year, while some people have spent two years.”
“If you hold somebody and you want him to go home, you will deport the person. Here, they told us we are the ones to buy our tickets. They told us to pay for our stay, which is nonsense.”
“However, I have already paid the money. Many of us here have paid the money, but they are still holding us. I don’t know what is going on. I need help, please.”
Onyeka added, “They came and dumped us inside the bush here. We have paid the ticket money and the clearance, but they are still holding us here.”
“We agreed to pay for our flight tickets, but each time we pay for the flight tickets, they will not come and pick us up, and the money will be lost.”
He further alleged that while foreign missions visited and evacuated their nationals, Nigerian officials never showed up.
“On Wednesday, June 17, the Finnish Embassy came to this deportation camp to see their people and immediately moved them,” he said.
“Our own embassy is not working. We have been calling and begging them, but nothing has been done.”
“I have paid for my flight ticket. I want to leave here. I’m not doing anything here. I was already given my travelling certificate (TC) and everything, but I have been calling the Nigerian Embassy, and they are not responding.”
“I was given 30 days to leave, but because the Nigerian embassy could not answer me, the date the Indian government gave me expired.”
Onyeka further lamented, “Each time I call the Nigerian Embassy, they would just say they are coming. Meanwhile, other countries have been coming here to take their people.”
“The Indian government said we should leave. I don’t understand what the problem is because I’m not doing drug business.”
“They did not see me with any drugs. The only issue is that my passport has expired, but I showed them that I had already gotten an emergency travel certificate to travel.”
He also claimed that Indian immigration officers searched his residence and confiscated several mobile phones used for his business.
“When the immigration officers came to my house, I was at home. They scattered my house while looking for drugs, but they did not find any drugs,” he said.
“They only found 36 mobile phones in my house, which I usually buy and send to Nigeria. At the end of everything, they released only 12 phones to me, while the rest are still with them.”
Nigerian Detainees Allege Extortion, Embassy Neglect
Another detainee alleged that some officers continued demanding money from overstayers even after payments had been made.
“There is a problem here (at the deportation camp). Someone paid enough money, and the police brought him here because he has overstayed, but they (police officers) are still demanding money in excess,” he said.
“They come here to harass us. We have been detained here in the New Delhi Deportation Camp, India. They have been maltreating us. They don’t want us to go, even though we have paid for our flight ticket. The police are harassing us.”
“We are calling for the help of the Nigerian government and Nigerian activists, including VeryDarkMan, Sowore, and other people who can help us here.”
Another victim, identified simply as Arinze, said some detainees have spent years in the camp and accused unnamed individuals of exploiting their situation.
“We are suffering here in the deportation camp. Some of us have spent more than six months, some have spent more than one year, and others have spent about three years in this deportation camp. We are the ones who are taking care of our flight tickets,” Arinze said.
“We have followed the normal procedures according to the Indian government, but some people are using us to make money. What they do is that when you book your flight ticket, they will deny you exit.”
According to him, “the Nigerian embassy is not doing anything for us.”
“They have never visited us here, and we have called the president of the Nigerian community here, Larry Chibata, and explained this issue to him,” he added.
“He referred us to a lady, whom I don’t know if she is working with the Nigerian Embassy. We called her and forwarded all the video evidence to her, but nobody has come to our rescue.”
Arinze stated, “Some people have developed mental illness here, and they are not taking care of us. Please, we need help. We are more than 500 people here.
“Meanwhile, there is nowhere they say in India that anyone who overstays will pay a penalty, but they are trying to force us to pay a penalty, and people are working with the Indian government to extort money from us. More than 25 people have booked their flight tickets, but they were denied exit.”
Arinze referred to a Finnish citizen who, according to him, was brought to the deportation camp about two weeks ago and later taken away by officials from the Finnish Embassy who visited the facility.
“That is how an embassy is supposed to treat its citizens living in another country,” he said.
Appealing to the Nigerian Embassy for urgent intervention, Arinze said, “If we have offended the Nigerian High Commission in India in any aspect, please forgive us, come to our rescue here. Nigerian nationals are suffering here in the deportation camp.
“Some people have sold their lands in the village in Nigeria to raise money and book their flight tickets, but after booking their tickets, the Indian authorities do not allow us to go.”
The detainees appealed to the Nigerian government and the Nigerian High Commission in India to urgently intervene and facilitate their return.
They lamented that they have endured prolonged detention, financial losses, and deteriorating mental health while stranded in the camp. SaharaReporters.com…
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