1,429 Nigerian nationals brought back home from neighboring Niger – Latest Figures

According to the latest data from the Mixed Migration Centre, at least 1,429 Nigerians were repatriated from Niger Republic in May 2026, highlighting the country's role as a major transit corridor for citizens attempting to reach Europe through Libya and Algeria.

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Nigeria's position as a key transit point is further complicated by the ongoing japa wave, driven by economic hardship, which has seen hundreds of thousands of citizens migrate to destinations such as the UK, the United States, and Canada through both regular and irregular channels in recent years.

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The Nigeria Immigration Service confirmed the arrival of at least 1,100 Nigerians who travelled by road from Niger Republic on May 22, 2026, with an additional 329 returnees received by the National Emergency Management Agency two days later, bringing the total to over 1,400.

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The Mixed Migration Centre, a research body affiliated with the Danish Refugee Council, noted that the mass return of migrants highlights the continued presence of stranded individuals in Niger, many of whom face prolonged stays in IOM centres or urban areas with limited resources.

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Agadez, located approximately 950 kilometres north-east of Niger's capital, Niamey, has served as the main northbound staging post for West Africans attempting to cross the Sahara into Libya or Algeria for over a decade.

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As of May 2026, 163 Nigerians had arrived in Italy via the Central Mediterranean Route, placing them among the persistent nationalities still attempting this route, although the figure was down from 196 Nigerian arrivals recorded over the same period in 2025.

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Nigerians are also being affected by a parallel expulsion running from Algeria back into Niger, with at least 14,602 people expelled between January 18 and May 17, 2026, according to Alarm Phone Sahara, a Sahel-based migrant rights network.

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This figure represents 43 per cent of the reported 34,000 expulsions recorded throughout 2025, with many of these convoys officially returning Nigerien nationals, although increasing numbers of non-Nigeriens, including nationals of Mali, Guinea, Nigeria, Sudan, and Chad, have also been affected.

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The report noted that migrants expelled from Algeria into Niger Republic are sometimes pushed back across the border into Algeria by Nigerien police, leaving affected migrants, including Nigerians, in a state of prolonged limbo along the borders.

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Regionally, Spain recorded 12,138 irregular arrivals by sea and land as of June 30, 2026, a 33 per cent decline from the same period in 2025, primarily driven by a 67 per cent drop in Atlantic Route crossings to the Canary Islands.

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However, the report cautioned that the decline in arrivals does not necessarily reflect fewer crossing attempts, as recorded deaths and disappearances on the same route fell by only 16 per cent, a far smaller decline than the drop in arrivals.

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The role of Niger Republic as West Africa's principal transit corridor dates back over a decade, but was accelerated by the collapse of the Muammar Gaddafi regime in Libya in 2011, which opened new smuggling routes northward.

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Under pressure from the European Union, Niger Republic passed a law criminalising migrant smuggling in 2015, which reduced visible transit through Agadez for several years but pushed smugglers and migrants onto riskier, less-monitored desert routes.

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Niger's military government, which seized power in a 2023 coup, later repealed the anti-smuggling law, a move that rights groups said reopened Agadez as one of Africa's busiest migration routes and complicated cooperation with European partners on migration control.

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Nigeria, under the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, allows its citizens to travel to Niger Republic without a visa for up to 90 days, making the neighbouring country a legitimate trade corridor and an easy first step for Nigerians attempting onward irregular migration to North Africa and Europe.