Some of the deportees from the UK

The U.K. on Wednesday deported 50 Nigerians alleged to have committed various offences in the country.

The deportees, made of 44 males and six females, were flown into Nigeria at about 6.30 a.m. in a chartered B767 aircraft belonging to PITAN Airways.

They were received and screened at the cargo terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport by officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).

A reliable source at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) told NAN that some of them were deported for immigration-related offences.

The source, who pleaded anonymity, said some of them called their friends and relations to pick them up, while others secured cabs to take them to their various destinations.

According to the source, others alleged to have committed criminal offences were handed over to officers from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The source noted that FAAN was expecting no fewer than 500 deportees, adding that this was only the first batch.

The Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK, Mr Olukunle Bamgbose, had recently disclosed that the UK Government had plans to deport about 29,000 Nigerians.