Hundreds of Nigerians, exiled in Chad to flee the jihadist insurgency in their country, were arrested and expelled last week, some of them told AFP.

Nigeria has been facing a jihadist insurgency for 17 years, triggered by numerous acts of violence committed by Boko Haram in 2009, which has spread to Niger, Chad and Cameroon, posing a security challenge to these neighbouring countries.

These expulsions come as experts in the region warn of a resurgence of violence linked to the jihadist conflict in northeastern Nigeria over the past year. However, this type of expulsion of Nigerian nationals is relatively common.

Two Nigerians arrested in Chad told AFP that approximately 600 of their compatriots had been arrested and then deported to the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, near the Chadian capital N'Djamena. They were then taken on Saturday by Chadian customs officials to Gamboru, in northeastern Nigeria, according to the same sources.

"On Friday, security agents raided our home," Kyari Musa, a Nigerian who lived in N'Djamena, told AFP. "They said that all Nigerian refugees belonged to Boko Haram and that they had to leave the country."

"They took our biometric data" and "warned that anyone who returns and is arrested will face 20 years in prison," the Nigerian testified.

"The mass arrests began on Wednesday," reports Ari Modu, who says he is still living in Chad thanks to the bail paid by his boss, which allowed him to get out of prison.

Around 227 people were arrested on Wednesday, according to the latter, and another 371 on Friday, agree Ari Modu and Kyari Musa.

The deputy director general of the Chadian national police, Paul Manga, confirmed to AFP that the security forces had carried out "a raid" on "people in an irregular situation", "of all nationalities", without giving details on the number of arrests.

The individuals arrested "were escorted back to the border," added Mr. Manga, who stressed that this was not "a witch hunt" but a "routine operation."

Cameroonian authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment from AFP.

For its part, Nigeria has repatriated some of its refugee nationals living abroad in recent years, in an effort to repopulate the countryside and restore the "dignity" of people driven from their homes.

An agreement reached in February 2025 between Nigeria, Chad and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) had allowed the voluntary return of approximately 8,000 refugees to Nigeria.

But repatriated Nigerians, interviewed by AFP in 2025, confided that they were considering leaving their country again. Fleeing insecurity in their villages of origin in northeastern Nigeria and unemployment in the major cities, some even ended up returning to Chad, where they had lived and worked for about ten years.

AFP