Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Germany deported at least 137 Nigerian citizens in five documented chartered operations between February and June 2026, according to reports monitored by the DERS Team and the migrant rights group Refugees4Refugees. The documented arrivals comprised 27 Nigerians deported in February, 37 deported directly by Germany as part of a 50-person joint European Union operation in March, and 24, 23 and 26 Nigerians deported in April, May and June, respectively. The figures indicate an increase in the use of chartered flights to return Nigerians from Germany and other European countries, with several of the operations involving cooperation among European states.
On February 18, 2026, a batch of 27 Nigerians arrived at the Lagos Cargo Airport following a deportation operation from Germany. According to Refugees4Refugees.org, the flight was operated by World2fly and departed Stuttgart before arriving in Lagos shortly before 2 pm. The report said the operation was primarily enforced by Germany, although one person, described as severely ill and mentally unfit, was transferred from Slovakia to join the 26 people deported from Germany. It also identified Baden-Württemberg as a major participant in the operation and said Stuttgart had hosted both the December 2025 and February 2026 deportation operations to Nigeria. The report further alleged that while some of those deported had serious health conditions, others had lived and worked in Germany for several years.
It cited the case of a single mother and her three children who were deported from the Sindelfingen district in Stuttgart despite reportedly having documentation relating to their residence status. The family subsequently returned to Germany after intervention by a volunteer and confirmation from local foreign authorities that the deportation had been made in error. A report by Voice for African Migrants also confirmed that the deportees included persons with critical health conditions as well as persons who had lived and worked in Germany for many years. The report further alleged that a single mother with a valid residence permit from Sindelfingen district in Stuttgart was deported in December 2025, with police officers deliberately ignoring every clarification and proof about having to pick up their residence card at the local foreign office.
The February deportation also coincided with Nigeria's participation in preparations for the Voluntary National Review of the Global Compact for Migration ahead of the 2026 International Migration Review Forum in New York. The DERS Team said that Nigerian government agencies did not send representatives to receive the deportees at the airport, adding that the returning Nigerians were subsequently transported away from the airport without adequate assistance. On March 10, another 50 people were deported to Nigeria in a joint EU operation hosted by Germany in cooperation with Spain, Austria and Belgium. Germany accounted directly for 37 of the deportations, according to the figures provided. The operation was described as the largest single deportation involving Nigerians in the three years referenced in the report.
A further 24 Nigerians, including women and a minor, were deported on April 9 on a chartered flight from Frankfurt organised through Frontex and German authorities. In May 2026, another batch of 23 deportees was returned to Nigeria, while 26 Nigerians arrived in Lagos on June 17 following another routine chartered deportation flight. The June deportees comprised 25 adult males and one aged female. The Nation Newspaper reported that no government agency working in the area of migration was on hand to receive the June deportees. The deportees were dumped in front of the Cargo area of the airport without any support to reach their families. Some of them scrambled around to get mobile SIM cards but could not obtain one because they had no NIN number. Many of them were seen looking sombre and at a loss over how to reach their loved ones. They were left to their own fate in the midst of ravenous airport hustlers desperate to fleece them of whatever little they had on them.
Officials of Project DERS, a private organisation, were seen providing support for the deportees. Rex Osa, Nigerian migrant and coordination activist of the German-based Network Refugees4Refugees and Project DERS Lagos, told The Nation that the group has engaged in the exercise long before now. "Aside from monitoring and documenting deportations from Europe, the DERS team provides immediate support to deported and abandoned migrants at the Lagos Cargo Airport. One of our first interventions is ensuring that returnees can reconnect with their families. We offer them the possibility of making essential calls, seeking guidance, and avoiding falling victim to scammers who frequently target people in vulnerable situations. For some migrants, this simple act of communication can mean the difference between safety and being stranded with nowhere to turn," Osa said.
Taken together, the five documented batches amounted to 137 Nigerians returned to the country between February and June 2026. The figures highlight the continued use of organised charter flights in the enforcement of migration decisions involving Nigerians in Europe. Migration rights advocates have continued to argue that deportation policies should be accompanied by adequate safeguards for vulnerable people and proper procedures to prevent wrongful removal. The deportations come amid growing concerns over the fate of Nigerian migrants in Europe. In August 2026, Senate President Godswill Akpabio urged the German government not to deport about 12,000 illegal migrants into Nigeria, warning that such a mass deportation could worsen the country's security situation. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had earlier stated that at least 14,000 Nigerians living in Germany and seeking asylum risk deportation for lack of identification cards. As the deportation machine continues to grind, the human cost mounts with each chartered flight that touches down in Lagos.
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