Nigerian charity Hospital and Prison Action Network (HPAN) has built twelve self-contained flats in Abeokuta, Ogun State, to provide accommodation for Nigerians deported from the UK.
The initiative is part of the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (Canuk), which aims to alleviate the suffering of deportees who often end up stranded upon their return home.
HPAN is offering free accommodation for three months at their halfway home, allowing deportees to find their feet. The programme will end the problem of some deportees having to sleep at the Lagos airport and will be extended to other countries.
A letter outlining the service has been forwarded to the Nigerian High Commission in London, and HPAN plans to design a leaflet to be widely distributed at immigration detention centers across the UK.
Canuk’s welfare secretary, Judy Akuta, expressed the hope that the initiative will help alleviate the agony some Nigerians face when they are deported. The initiative is expected to be widely distributed at immigration detention centers across the UK.
