No fewer than 198 Nigerians illegally residing in Saudi Arabia have voluntarily returned to the country.

The returnees mostly women and children arrived the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano at about 10 am on Saturday aboard a Med-View aircraft.

Their voluntary return was in compliance with the three months amnesty and evacuation notice given to the over 1800 Nigerians illegally residing in Saudi Arabia by that country’s authorities. The amnesty ultimatum is expected to expire on Monday, July 24.

Mohammed Yahaya-Sani, Consular at the Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah, who led the returnees, told journalists at the airport that their return was sponsored by the Federal Government since they voluntarily accepted the amnesty initiative contrary to reports that they were deported.

“They decided on their own to return to Nigeria. The Saudi authorities offered amnesty to all illegal immigrants to leave the country within three months,” Yahaya-Sani said.

He later handed over the returnees to officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) who were on hand to debrief and document the particulars of all the returnees before they departed to their various destinations.