By Simon Ebegbulem

BENIN—GOVERNOR Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has urged the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, to furnish the state government with the list of Edo State indigenes, who were deported from Europe and Libya so that they would be rehabilitated and integrated into the society.

Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki

“I am not comfortable with the way the issue of returnees is being handled. The state has no record or statistics of those that have come back. We do not have the benefit of resettling them, we feel this should be corrected,” he said.

Obaseki spoke when the Zonal Coordinator of NIS Zone G, Mrs Chizoba Dibi, paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Benin City.

Obaseki who disclosed that efforts were being made by his administration to provide jobs for the youths of the state in the 18 local government areas, said that the state government was investing heavily in agriculture because “We discovered that it is one of the ways we seek to exploit to make money for the state and also create employment for our people.

“So we need to have statistics of our brothers and sisters who returned to the country so that we can include them in our plans. They may have no reason to go abroad any more since we are able to provide all their needs by creating job opportunities for them.”