THE recent peaceful protest at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos by some 150 angry Libyan evacuees over the non-arrival of their luggage once again exposes the poor emergency management process in the country.The evacuees should have arrived along with their luggage and other personal effects or at least in a matter of days after their return. But that not being the case indicates Nigerias failure in the management of emergencies. The country is always caught napping with dire consequences. But the case of the evacuees ought to have been different. Unfortunately, they have been left to their fate.A situation whereby the evacuees were just picked up from Libya with practically nothing and dumped at the Hajj Camp in Lagos for upwards of three weeks without their luggage, or assurances to that effect is most disheartening. The Federal Government should do something without further delay to get their luggage to Nigeria. And if that has been done, there should be an announcement to that effect.The trauma of abandoning ones house, work and other belongings amid crisis in a foreign land and flown back to ones country with the hope of getting succor that never came is frustrating. It is enough to put the returnee in severe psychological stress. Elsewhere, the evacuees would have been assisted by counsellors. But here, that was not done. Rather than do the right thing, the evacuees were left unattended without food, water or clothing and trauma care. The N5,000 reportedly given to them as daily sustenance allowance was discontinued on the pretext that the Federal Government didnt promise any monetary obligation. But how could that be Why would such traumatised persons be evacuated from a war situation supposedly on humanitarian grounds and then left without any form of assistance; even, when they didnt have their luggage or anything to fall back onWhat it means is that they were abandoned more or less like refugees in their own country, with no official plans to assist them. Their apparent hopeless situation must have compelled them to resort to public protest in order to register their grievance. We hope the message has been well communicated.We commended President Goodluck Jonathan when he directed the evacuation of the stranded Nigerians in Egypt and Libya in the wake of the popular uprising in those countries. Relying on the presidential directive, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working in tandem with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), evacuated more than four thousand Nigerians from Libya alone. But that euphoria seems to have faded given the shabby treatment meted out to the returnees ever since.What ordinarily should have been a relief for people in distress, trapped and evacuated from fiery anti-government demonstrations against autocratic rulers in North Africa seems to have waned given the odds they now face. Disenchanted, therefore, they vowed to disrupt air operations at the airport. From their Hajj Camp base, they marched on the road for about two kilometers and blocked the major road leading to the international departure halls of the airport wielding placards, chanting solidarity songs and calling on the Federal Government to come to their aid. It was a huge embarrassment as airport security officials struggled to restore order.Why was the Lagos Airport turned into the camp for returnees instead of airports in other parts of the country The MMIA is the nations international gateway and as such should have been spared the embarrassment of habouring evacuees under such circumstances. But having made the mistake, the Federal Government should bring home the luggage in contention. Again, the evacuees deserve more than the N5,000 stipend that they receive. They should be given enough money that would enable them go to their respective homes in Nigeria and possibly start a new life.Japan has been catering for millions of her citizens rendered homeless by the recent earthquake and tsunami disasters. All affected persons are being housed, fed and clothed by the government. Such quality attention endears the country to the people. It is irresponsible for NEMA to insist that government didnt promise the evacuees any kind of monetary obligation. Still, government has a duty to protect the citizenry. Dumping the returnees at the Lagos Hajj Camp without much help is inhuman.What we are faced with, invariably, is the systematic failure of the state. The complaints that have been raised by the Libya returnees should be closely investigated to establish that there are no issues of corruption involved and if this can be established, the indicted officials must be dealt with accordingly.
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