Deportation of Ndigbo to Onitsha from Lagos

Posted by Felix Okoli on Monday July 29, 2013 at 12:13:59:

A few days ago, there were newspaper reports of the deportation of about 70 persons from Lagos to Onitsha. These people were said to be have been interviewed in Onitsha after a Lagos truck dropped them off and went back to Lagos. On further investigation, it was found out that there were illegally arrested randomly and detained for several weeks with no charge and with little food or health support. Some were even said to have died in detention while their families may consider them as missing persons. Reports have it that this is the 2nd noticeable time this has happened and they pointed the finger at the Lagos state government.

When I first read the news, one of the things that came to my mind was that maybe they were mad people who were arrested for wandering and then taken back to their respective states in collaboration with their state government. But again, what is the logic of taking moving people from one state to another even if they were mad people? Even if they were mad or not well dressed and wandering, does it warrant them being trans-located to another state. Is dumping of human beings in another state now a norm in Nigeria? Is deportation now working in Nigeria?

Who arrested them? Well the victims claim it is the officials of Lagos state but I'm not sure of which officials. Nowadays Lagos has many ministries and I guess the most physically active one is KAI. If they were indeed arrested for being mad, should they not have been kept in hospitals for mad people?

It is illegal to arrest and detain people without charging them to court? It is also illegal for dumping people in other states because every Nigerian has a right to freedom of movement.

Already, it seems the Lagos state govt have denied the allegation for accepting responsibility may lead to them paying damages.

Why they were even dumped in Anambra state is not yet certain as not all of them are from Anambra state. A witness said they were dumped at night at Iweka road and the truck supposedly headed back to Lagos.

Would this brew into a state war of human dumping? Will Anambra government reciprocate by also dumping people in an already over-populated Lagos? Truth is that both states already have high human population density and so it would hardly be unnoticeable if people were just moved and dumped in any of the two states.

It would have probably being unnoticed if the victims were dumped in a different state with a low human population unlike Anambra. In Onitsha, whatever happens even at night is already popular news by the day as this night time human cargo dumping supposedly by the Lagos state government has already spread like wild fire.

Dumping of people from other states in Anambra is an insult on the Igbo people and Anambra state probably needs to start doing something about it. Perhaps they should make use of CCTV cameras if security men cannot be available at sensitive areas during the night.