The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has denied reports that 500 Nigerians were on Wednesday morning deported back to Nigeria from the United Kingdom, stressing that only 48 persons were actually deported.
The Nigerian media space had been awash with the news, after the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that 500 Nigerians were deported from the UK on Tuesday evening on a chartered plane which took off from the London Stansted Airport and landed around 6am at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
According to a spokesperson of the NIS, Mr. Ekpedeme King, the 48 Nigerians were deported for overstaying their visa validity period and other immigration-related offences.
On the other hand, another spokesperson told The Punch that the 48 deportees had nothing to do with the 29,000 Nigerians the UK government is planning to deport back to Nigeria.
