The escapees, including women and children, were, however intercepted and detained by the state command of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Kaduna by armed immigration personnel at about 2pm on Friday.
As they alighted from from the two luxury buses that brought them, most of them kept mum on allegation that they had fought on the side of forces loyal to the ousted Libyan leader.
One of them, who declined to give his name told our correspondent that although it was not impossible that some of them might have served as Gaddafi’s fighters, they escaped from different parts of the North African country.
He said they were wandering in the desert for almost two weeks before they were apprehended by immigration officials at the Niger-Nigeria border.
He said, “It may be true because of the way some of these boys have been behaving since we all met. Infact, many of them, by their behaviour have left many of us in no doubt that they must have actively participated in the war in Libya. I don’t know if one can actually call them mercenaries, I don’t know, honestly. We left Libya about two weeks ago looking for our way back to Nigeria through the desert before our arrest at the Niger-Nigeria border.”
Our correspondent’s attempt to confirm the status of the returnees from the NIS Comptroller in the state, Mr. Suleiman Umar, proved abortive as he declined to speak.
An immigration officer, who pleaded anonymity, however, told our correspondent that the comptroller had to obtain clearance first from higher authorities in Abuja before he could speak on the matter.
He said, “We are yet to ascertain whether they are Gaddafi’s fighters or not but we know they are Nigerians from Libya.
“As I am talking with you, another set are at the Kaduna toll gate.
“What we want to do now is to keep them in our custody and await directives from the government on the way forward.
“Right now, high level security meeting is going on at the Kaduna Government House and our zonal comptroller has gone there.”
Recently, a Spanish-based radio, Hamada Radio International, reported that some members of the Gaddafi regime had crossed over to some parts of Northern Nigeria.
The radio added that more than 200 Nigerians were arrested in Libya by the TNC, while about 20 were executed for supporting Gaddafi as mercenaries.
The report also said some members of the old Libyan regime were heading towards Burkina-Faso while others were reported to have headed towards the North-West town of Katsina.
The report also noted that some members of the Libyan military had maintained close family ties with Northern Nigeria, especially one Gen. Youssef Dbiri, head of Gaddafi’s security service, said to have his maternal roots in Nguru, Yobe State in North-Eastern Nigeria.
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