The Nigerian Navy has announced that its troops of Operation Delta Sanity, from Forward Operating Base in Ibaka, Akwa Ibom State yesterday managed to intercept a wooden boat laden with drums of illegally refined petroleum heading towards Cameroon.
This was contained in a statement on its verified Facebook page which was sighted by Africa Today News, New York on Monday morning.
According to the statement: “Operation Delta Sanity: On Saturday, 18 May 2024, Forward Operating Base Ibaka intercepted a wooden boat laden with drums of illegally refined PMS carefully concealed among some building materials and household items bound for the Republic of Cameroon.
“Consequently, two suspects were arrested in the process and detained to be handed over to the relevant agency in Akwa Ibom State.”
Read Also: Nigeria To Repatriate 20,000 Refugees From Cameroon, Chad
In another report, the Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with other partners have concluded plans for the repatriation of no fewer than 20,000 of its citizens currently living in Cameroon and Chad.
Available statistics obtained by Africa Today News, New York showed that 21,381 Nigerian refugees reside in Chad, while 120,677 lives in Cameroon as at 31st December, 2023.
Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Hon. Tijani Ahmed disclosed this in Abuja, after the end of a Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting on the voluntary repatriation of Nigerian Refugees.
Within the next two months, he said, Nigerians would be returning home—6,000 from Chad and 14,000 from Cameroon, respectively.
The Federal Government of Nigeria willingly returned no fewer than five thousand Nigerian refugees from Cameroon to Banki in Borno State in 2023.
During the year under review, the present administration also spent the sum of N2 billion for procurement of food and non-food items as return package for the repatriated Citizens, most of whom were displaced by the 2022 flood, the Boko Haram crisis, Farmer-Herders clash and current climate change challenges.