Irish Government Spends €77,000 to Deport High-Risk Nigerians

The Irish government allocated nearly €77,000 to deport six Nigerian nationals classified as “high risk,” who collectively had 75 criminal convictions while residing in Ireland. Due to safety concerns, they could not be deported on commercial flights.

Instead, they were deported to Rome on a specially chartered aircraft in late July. From Rome, they joined a joint return operation coordinated by the Italian government and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex.

A risk assessment by the Garda National Immigration Bureau concluded that several of the deportees posed a sufficiently high risk to preclude their removal on ordinary flights. The operation provided an alternative means for deportation when commercial airlines were impractical.

The Irish Department of Justice emphasized that removing foreign nationals involved in criminality is a priority for Ministers O’Callaghan and Brophy, confirming that deportation orders had been enforced against the six individuals.