India deports Nigerians: 2,356 removed in five years as visa, drug cases rise
By: Abudu Olalekan
Africa’s western coast sends more travelers to South Asia, now facing swift returns. Deportations climb as paperwork gaps widen between nations. Some visitors stay past legal limits, others caught with banned substances. Each case strains diplomatic links a little further. Numbers grow, quietly reshaping how countries manage movement across borders.
Once upon a time, heading to India meant rebirth for countless Nigerian youth. Classrooms full of promise. Shops imagined before they existed. Tiny steps forward. Yet today’s numbers whisper another truth – clearer, harsher, spreading.
Over five years, starting in 2019, more than two thousand three hundred fifty Nigerian citizens were sent back from India. Data pulled by Reportersroom shows what happened next – those figures shot upward. Sharp. Sudden.
Last year, from April 2023 through March 2024, people from Nigeria made up the largest group expelled by India. More than 2,331 individuals were sent out in just those months, yet citizens from one country filled most seats on those flights. For every five removals, three involved someone born in West Africa. Numbers like these haven’t shown up before – timing changed things. Suddenly, a pattern once unseen now stands clear.
Out in the big cities – New Delhi took first, then Mumbai jumped in – removals got handled one after another. Kolkata joined next, Chennai followed close behind without pause. Bengaluru stepped up, Hyderabad moved at the same time. Even Amritsar made its part happen.
Bangladesh came after Nigeria, then Uganda – both way behind in count. The difference? Huge. So big it feels awkward just looking at it.
Look closer at the numbers and the trend sharpens. Around 122 Nigerians sent back per month from 2023 into 2024. Four individuals daily on average. Silent departures. Regular planes leaving. Almost no news coverage.
It started small, not some sudden shift. By 2019, Nigeria topped the list – Afghanistan close behind. A short drop came in 2020, thanks to lockdowns grounding flights worldwide. After gates swung open again, counts rose fast.
A jump from 339 removals in 2021 to 1,470 by 2024 – more than triple. Fast. Unplanned.
Most people sent away broke rules about how long they could stay or got caught up in drug matters, officials explain. Though some came legally as students, their permission ran out yet they remained anyway. A number faced attention from authorities after probes led by the Narciotics Control Bureau began.
Early that year, India’s Union Home Minister Amit Shah mentioned more than 100 Nigerians got caught over drug-related charges. These arrests ranked just below those involving Nepali nationals. The data came through a report released in 2024.
Frosty relations seem to thaw even as rules grow stricter.
That September, Nigeria’s leader showed up in India just as the big G20 meeting kicked off. His visit lined up with a sit-down alongside Modi, who runs India. Trade came up first when they started talking. After that, farming ideas took over part of the chat. Security plans slipped into the conversation later on. The whole thing stayed grounded in practical topics.
More than twelve months on, Modi arrived in Nigeria, handed the nation’s next-to-top civilian decoration – a distinction once presented to Queen Elizabeth II. Meaningful. Strategic. Precisely arranged.
One country agreed to share arts programs while the other set new border rules at checkpoints. Even so, numbers of people forced to leave still weigh heavily on how they work together.
Over 60,000 Nigerians now live in India – a big share of West Africans on the continent. A fair number study here. Not few run small businesses. Opportunity pulls others across. Still.
Some experts note the flow of people leaving isn’t unexpected. Joblessness, paired with few paths forward locally, keeps driving Nigerian youth abroad, studies suggest. When hope fades, movement follows close behind.
Now here’s word from the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission: plans are quietly moving forward as the Federal Government braces for a rise in returns from abroad. Not sudden moves, but steady steps – anticipating more citizens may be sent back from various nations. This isn’t alarm, just readiness shaping up behind the scenes.
Ahead of everything, the agency points out existing networks across departments meant for returning individuals. These setups help ease people back into daily life after they come home.
Yet in alleyways and hushed talks, things weigh more than official words admit. To countless households, being forced out isn’t merely a number. It arrives through a jolt at night. Plans dissolve without warning. Roads stop short of where they should go.
