Germany deported at least 137 Nigerian citizens in five documented chartered deportation operations between February and June 2026, according to reports monitored by migration advocacy organisations, highlighting an increase in the use of coordinated charter flights to enforce immigration decisions.

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The figures, compiled from reports by the DERS Team and Refugees4refugees.org, show that 27 Nigerians were deported in February, 37 in March as part of a joint European deportation exercise involving 50 returnees, 24 in April, 23 in May, and 26 in June. The data point to a sustained enforcement campaign targeting Nigerians whose asylum applications or residency status no longer qualified them to remain in Germany.

According to the reports, the first operation took place on February 18, 2026, when 27 Nigerians arrived at the Lagos Cargo Airport aboard a chartered World2Fly aircraft that departed Stuttgart, Germany. Of those deported, 26 were removed directly from Germany, while one individual was transferred from Slovakia to join the flight. Rights groups alleged that several deportees had lived and worked in Germany for years, while some reportedly suffered from serious medical conditions.

One of the cases highlighted involved a single mother and her three children, who were deported from the Sindelfingen area of Stuttgart despite reportedly possessing documentation relating to their legal residence. According to Refugees4refugees.org, the family later returned to Germany after local immigration authorities allegedly acknowledged that the deportation had been carried out in error.

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The DERS Team also claimed that no Nigerian government officials were present to receive the deportees upon arrival in Lagos. The organisation alleged that some of the returnees were transported from the airport without receiving adequate welfare support or reintegration assistance.

The February deportation coincided with Nigeria’s preparations for the Voluntary National Review of the Global Compact for Migration ahead of the 2026 International Migration Review Forum in New York, prompting advocacy groups to call for stronger protections for deportees.

Germany continued the deportation operations in subsequent months. On March 10, authorities coordinated a joint European charter flight involving Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium, which returned 50 migrants to Nigeria, with 37 deportees originating from Germany. The operation was described in the monitored reports as the largest single deportation involving Nigerians within the three-year period under review.

Another 24 Nigerians, including women and a minor, were deported on April 9 aboard a chartered flight from Frankfurt, organised with the support of Frontex and German authorities. A further 23 Nigerians were deported in May, while another 26 arrived in Lagos on June 17 following another chartered removal operation.

Collectively, the five documented deportation exercises resulted in the return of at least 137 Nigerians within five months, underscoring Germany’s continued reliance on charter flights to implement immigration decisions involving migrants whose legal right to remain in the country had expired.

Migration advocacy groups have continued to urge European governments to strengthen legal safeguards during deportation procedures, particularly for children, families, individuals with medical conditions and other vulnerable migrants. They also called for improved welfare support and proper reintegration mechanisms for deportees upon arrival in Nigeria, while stressing the need to prevent wrongful removals through stricter legal oversight.