Nigeria has signed a readmission agreement with the European Union (EU) to facilitate the return of Nigerian nationals who no longer have legal grounds to remain in EU member states.
The agreement, announced by Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, formalises cooperation between both sides on identifying and returning Nigerians living irregularly in European countries.
The negotiations, which lasted nearly a decade, come amid continued migration from Nigeria to Europe and growing cooperation between the two sides on immigration management.
According to the available figures, approximately 260,000 Nigerians legally reside in EU countries. However, an International Organization for Migration (IOM) report also recorded 27,234 irregular arrivals of Nigerian nationals in Europe between 2017 and March 2024.
The agreement was formally signed by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and the EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner.
Speaking after the signing, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the agreement demonstrated Nigeria’s commitment to protecting the welfare and dignity of its citizens, including those being returned from European countries.
She expressed confidence that the arrangement would strengthen cooperation between Nigeria and the EU in several areas, including education, capacity-building and vocational training.
Brunner described the conclusion of the negotiations as an important development in relations between Nigeria and the European Union.
He said the agreement could provide a foundation for broader cooperation, particularly in police collaboration, combating human trafficking and migrant smuggling, and developing legal migration opportunities.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the agreement establishes reciprocal obligations for Nigeria and the EU, with provisions intended to protect the safety, dignity and human rights of citizens during readmission procedures.
Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said the agreement was also intended to promote a legal and mutually beneficial system for managing migration.
He explained that the federal government was modernising the country’s migration and border management systems through automation and the integration of national identity databases.
The initiative is expected to help Nigerian authorities establish the nationality of people being returned from European countries more quickly and accurately.
Tunji-Ojo identified three categories of Nigerians who could be covered by the readmission arrangement.
They include citizens who possess valid travel documents, those who travelled with identification documents but subsequently lost or destroyed them, and Nigerians who travelled without identification documents.
The agreement marks a new stage in migration cooperation between Nigeria and the European Union, particularly concerning the return of Nigerians who do not meet the legal requirements to remain in EU member states.
It also places renewed attention on the need to balance immigration enforcement with the protection of migrants’ rights and the expansion of safe and legal migration opportunities.