A GARDA spokesperson has refuted claims that Nigerian children ended up in the force’s custody following a deportation to Lagos on 25 February.
A source on that deportation flight had told Metro Éireann that several unaccompanied children had been whisked off by gardaí when the Nigerian Immigration Service allegedly refused to take them.
However, information from the Garda Press Office suggests that no such incident took place.
“Two children were returned to Nigeria by chartered flight on 25 February whose parents had been removed on a previous charter,” commented a spokesperson. “In the weeks leading up to the charter, the GNIB [Garda National Immigration Bureau] was in contact by telephone with the parents who had requested the return of the children to Nigeria.
“Two days prior to the charter, two detectives from the GNIB travelled to Lagos to liaise with Nigerian authorities and to meet the parents to ensure the children were collected on arrival at the airport,” continued the spokesperson.
The Nigerian Immigration Service “was wholly co-operative” and facilitated the return of the children to their parents.
Metro Éireann has yet to receive any comment on the allegation from the Nigerian Immigration Service.
The deportation flight carried 34 people from Ireland, and 45 from the UK. A further seven were being deported from Switzerland and Germany.
