Nigerians who fled to the Nigerian border said they had been called out of their homes, lined up and brutally hurried out with no supplies.
“I counted over 50 people that died on our way out of (the town of) Lalewa when the Niger soldiers were chasing us as if we are animals,” said 45-year old Ibrahim, one of the group who was originally from Nigeria's Kebbi state. Musa Samaila, a fisherman from Lalewa, said he had walked for three days and his son had died of dehydration in his arms.
“I can't believe what happened that the government of Niger just woke up and decided to chase us out of a place where we have been doing business for years,” Samaila said. One of those who fled, Hanatu Saidu, told Reuters that her husband had been shot by a Nigerian soldier in the leg when troops came to their town and told them to leave. There was no systematic process for repatriating the Nigerians, evacuees said.
Some were picked up in trucks at the border town of Mainé-Soroa and taken to two camps in Geidam in Nigeria's Yobe state, set up in a primary school and a small stadium. Others walked the whole way or got rides for part of the way. However, Niger's prime minister said the government was supplying food and healthcare to those who arrived at the camps in N'Guigmi and Bosso while thousands of other Nigerians had been repatriated.
“I counted over 50 people that died on our way out of (the town of) Lalewa when the Niger soldiers were chasing us as if we are animals,” said 45-year old Ibrahim, one of the group who was originally from Nigeria's Kebbi state. Musa Samaila, a fisherman from Lalewa, said he had walked for three days and his son had died of dehydration in his arms.
“I can't believe what happened that the government of Niger just woke up and decided to chase us out of a place where we have been doing business for years,” Samaila said. One of those who fled, Hanatu Saidu, told Reuters that her husband had been shot by a Nigerian soldier in the leg when troops came to their town and told them to leave. There was no systematic process for repatriating the Nigerians, evacuees said.
Some were picked up in trucks at the border town of Mainé-Soroa and taken to two camps in Geidam in Nigeria's Yobe state, set up in a primary school and a small stadium. Others walked the whole way or got rides for part of the way. However, Niger's prime minister said the government was supplying food and healthcare to those who arrived at the camps in N'Guigmi and Bosso while thousands of other Nigerians had been repatriated.
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