Migrants returnees championing an Alliance in Nigeria
What began as an effort to connect people with diverse migration experiences has gradually developed into an alliance of collective solidarity. With shared purpose, about 80 People with lived migration experience were gathered at the Bishop Kelly Pastoral Center on the 30. 07. 2026 in Benin city to articulate issues around the complex migration situation and the challenges they are confronted with as Nigerian migrant returnees.
As the first gathering of migrants organized by returned migrants themselves, the organizers highlight the need for practical engagement of returnees in migration relevant discussions emphasizing on the repeatedly reproduced re-integration programs that has continued to create further vulnerability for them.
With the conference venue intended as a space for the official launching of the newly founded “Network of People with Migration Experience” (NePMEX), the venue was also intended as the converging point for the Nigerian and Central African Caravan delegation to the World Social Forum 2026 event in Cotonou. NePMEX is a coalition of migrant/migrant led groups who are determined to strengthen the collective perspective of returned migrants to challenge the false and corrupt narratives about migration in the Nigerian society.
The participation of a NePMEX delegation at the World Social Forum 2026 in Cotonou marked an important step in this journey. At the Migration Village, the Nigerian returnees delegation did not only learned from the resources from the diverse activist and network in the transnational space, they had also intervened immensely through their impressive panel discussions and other related activities at the events.
With the new dynamic from the Cotonou experience, the NePMEX team have been engaging people with migration experience, civil society, migration stakeholders and communities on critical migration realities. From issues around actual root causes of flight and migration, the Team have continued to raise questions on responsibilities for abuse on migrant and violation of their rights, deportation violence, ill conceived and corrupt reintegration programs, recruitment scams and exploitation alongside many issues that are often-overlooked in conversations around the Nigerian migration space.
So far, NePMEX is all about empowering self determination of people with lived migration experience (PME) and championing their potential as migration experts with a unique perspectives that can no longer be ignored in any migration relevant dialogue. With their lived experiences as an expertise, Migrants must be seen as knowledge holders and major actors in decisions and policies that affects their lives. NePMEX will continue to build connections and share knowledge with PME and other interested members of the society including migration stakeholders. The core of the NePMEX commitment is clear: Beyond story telling, bringing lived experience to impact migration discussions.
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