Germany Returns 137 Nigerians in Five Deportation Flights
Germany deported at least 137 Nigerians to Nigeria between February and June 2026, with the returns carried out through five chartered flights, according to figures compiled by the DERS Team and Refugees4refugees.org.
The deportations took place in separate operations, with some involving other European countries.
Records showed that 27 Nigerians were returned in February, followed by 37 Nigerians among 50 people deported in a joint European operation in March.
A further 24 Nigerians were returned in April, 23 in May and another 26 in June, bringing the total number of Nigerians deported during the five-month period to 137.
The February operation was the first of the five. On February 18, 27 Nigerians arrived at Lagos Cargo Airport after being deported from Germany on a flight operated by World2fly.
The aircraft departed Stuttgart and landed in Lagos shortly before 2pm.
Germany handled the bulk of the operation, while one person described in the report as severely ill and mentally unfit was transferred from Slovakia to join the other deportees.
Baden-Württemberg was identified as a major participant in the operation. Stuttgart had also been used for a previous deportation flight to Nigeria in December 2025.
The February return raised concerns among migration advocates over the treatment of some deportees. Refugees4refugees.org reported that some had serious health conditions, while others had spent several years living and working in Germany.
The report also highlighted the case of a single mother and her three children who were deported from the Sindelfingen district of Stuttgart despite reportedly possessing documents connected to their residence status.
According to the report, the family eventually returned to Germany after a volunteer intervened and local immigration authorities determined that the deportation had been carried out mistakenly.
The February deportation also coincided with Nigeria’s preparations for its Voluntary National Review of the Global Compact for Migration ahead of the 2026 International Migration Review Forum in New York.
The DERS Team said Nigerian government representatives were not present at the airport to receive those returned.
It further alleged that the deportees were taken from the airport without sufficient assistance.
The next major operation took place on March 10, when 50 people were deported to Nigeria in a joint European Union operation coordinated by Germany.
Germany accounted for 37 of those deportations, while Spain, Austria and Belgium also participated.
The operation was described as the largest single deportation involving Nigerians during the three-year period examined by the report.
Germany continued the deportations in April. On April 9, 24 Nigerians, including women and a minor, were flown from Frankfurt to Nigeria on a chartered flight organised with the involvement of Frontex and German authorities.
Two further operations followed in May and June. Twenty-three Nigerians were returned in May, while another 26 arrived in Lagos on June 17 after a chartered flight from Europe.
The figures point to the continued use of coordinated charter flights by Germany and other European countries to enforce deportation decisions involving Nigerian nationals.
Migration rights groups have continued to call for stronger protections during deportation procedures, particularly where children, people with health conditions and other vulnerable individuals are involved.
They have also urged authorities to ensure that immigration decisions are properly reviewed so that people with valid residence rights are not mistakenly removed from countries where they have been living.
Irregular migration can be driven by a range of circumstances, including economic hardship, conflict, exploitation and environmental pressures.
For many migrants, the decision to leave home is shaped by the search for safety, employment, education or improved living conditions.
The latest deportation figures highlight the continuing tension between European efforts to enforce immigration decisions and calls from migration advocates for deportations to be carried out with due process and adequate safeguards.
