Nigeria a Ragged Exodus of the Unwanted

As last Friday's deadline drew near, the refugees began to mass at the crossing posts along Nigeria's western border with Benin. Their mattresses, chairs, plastic containers and enamel cooking pots spilled out of trailers, trucks and minibuses. Many of those who made it across the border had first to surrender any supplies of sugar, milk and detergents--officially described as "essential commodities"--to Nigerian immigration and customs officials. No one was permitted to leave with more than $22 worth of naira, Nigeria's currency. The scenes at posts along Nigeria's borders with Niger and Chad were much the same, as streams of anxious refugees sought to join others who had already left by land, sea and air. But with thousands backed up in lines that stretched for miles at the frontiers waiting to get through customs, there was no hope of meeting the timetable for the Nigerian government's draconian order to as many as 700,000 men, women and children, all illegal aliens, to leave the country.

As the deadline of 6 p.m. local time passed, the Nigerian government sealed all of the country's land borders, trapping hundreds of thousands of refugees. Nigerian Radio, quoting official sources, said the illegal immigrants, many of whom are destitute, would be allowed to leave the country only by land or sea. Shortly before the deadline, refugees on the border with Benin, who had been waiting for four days without food or water, began protesting. Nigerian police waded in with truncheons, and 200 people were injured in the melee. Road accidents have claimed at least 13 lives as refugees have hurried to border crossings in dangerously overloaded vehicles.

The expulsion was announced without explanation on April 15 by Nigeria's Minister of Internal Affairs, Major General Mohammed Magoro, who declared simply that "all illegal aliens are to leave before the tenth of May." About half the immigrants targeted for expulsion originally came from Ghana, the rest mainly from Burkina Faso, Niger, Liberia, Chad, Togo, Gambia and Benin. Many had entered Nigeria illegally in search of jobs; others had fled from drought and starvation.

It was the second time in just over two years that Nigeria had ordered an exodus of alien residents. In 1983 some 2 million illegal immigrants were unceremoniously booted out of the country. At that time, there were reports that some of the foreigners were beaten and robbed as they tried to make their way out of Nigeria. Some diplomats in Lagos said they believed that the latest order was issued for much the same reasons as in 1983: a troubled economy that continues to be badly hurt by depressed crude-oil prices. At a time when jobs are scarce and prices for basic goods are high, there is a tendency to regard the aliens in the midst of Nigeria's 91 million people as an unacceptable strain on the country's limited resources.

Many of those being expelled had been thrown out in 1983 but had slipped back into the country by bribing border guards or crossing over at remote, unguarded spots. Some even returned by stowing away on ships. More returnees can almost certainly be expected following the latest expulsion. "I will have to come back," explained Alhaji Idrissa as he waited to make the crossing into his native Niger. "Nigeria is the only place where I can survive."

Nigeria's governing military junta, headed by Major General Mohammed Buhari, made it clear that it wanted to avoid the "unfortunate incidents" that took place during the 1983 exodus. Even so, many aliens complained last week of harassment by Nigerian authorities, who sometimes illegally confiscated money and possessions. Some refugees had been forced to leave their jobs without collecting wages they were owed. But the Nigerian government appeared to shrug off the chaos that the expulsion brought to so many lives. Said one immigration official: "Countries like Great Britain or France expel illegal aliens on a daily basis. Why all this fuss about Nigeria?"