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750 West Africans stranded in Nigeria evacuated

By AFP
Nigeria Togolese refugees board buses provided by Lagos State Environmental protection in Lagos, on August 14, 2015.  By Pius Utomi Ekpei AFP
JAN 2, 2016 LISTEN
Togolese refugees board buses provided by Lagos State Environmental protection in Lagos, on August 14, 2015. By Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP)

Lagos (AFP) - More than 750 foreigners from eight west African countries, stranded in the southeastern Nigerian port of Calabar since Christmas after their ferry broke down, left by road Saturday, a statement said.

The 758 people were onboard a ship making stopovers along the coast of west Africa "when their passenger vessel... made an emergency berthing" after one of its engines broke down on December 25, the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said.

A convoy of buses conveyed the stranded nationals of Togo, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Guinea to their various countries, SEMA said.

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