Germany deports 457 Nigerians in 18 months as Stuttgart becomes key EU removal hub

LAGOS — No fewer than 457 Nigerians have been forcibly returned to Nigeria from Europe in the past 18 months through 14 chartered deportation flights hosted by Germany, according to data compiled by the Deportees Emergency Reception and Support team (DERS).

The figures, obtained by Vanguard, show Germany increasingly serving as a central hub for deportation operations involving Nigerian migrants. Between January 2025 and May 2026, German authorities either coordinated or participated in major monthly removal exercises, with Lagos receiving more than 80 percent of those deported.

DERS records, which were also shared by Refugees4Refugees.org, showed that 171 people were deported in four charter operations during the first six months of 2025. Of that number, 143 were returned directly from Germany.

Another 135 people were deported in six operations during the second half of 2025. DERS said it did not record the August operation because heavy rainfall prevented the group from monitoring the flight.

While at least two operations were carried out exclusively by Germany with coordination from Bavaria, DERS said most were joint EU deportation exercises involving Germany and other European countries, including Vienna, Luxembourg, Italy, Cyprus and Poland.

The deportation pace continued in 2026. Between January and May, DERS recorded 147 Nigerians returned through German-hosted joint EU charter flights, including 23 people in May.

In February, 27 people were deported from Stuttgart in an operation largely enforced by Baden-Württemberg. One severely ill person was reportedly flown in from Slovakia as part of the operation.

On March 10, 50 returnees landed in Lagos following a joint EU operation hosted by Germany alongside Spain, Austria and Belgium. The group included three women and six children. Germany accounted for 37 of the deportees, which DERS described as the highest single German enforcement in three years.

Another 24 people were deported from Frankfurt on April 8, including two mothers and a 10-year-old child suffering from asthma. A further 23 people were removed in May.

Residence permits and Paragraph 104c

DERS linked the growing deportations to what it described as widespread refusals by Berlin to extend residence permits under Paragraph 104c.

“What has become very obvious is the ongoing deportation of many who, after the first 18 months, are denied extension of Paragraph 104c,” the group said.

It claimed that such refusals were often justified on the grounds that applicants had failed to meet integration requirements, including completion of certified German language courses, gainful employment and possession of national identity documents.

DERS also alleged that the Paragraph 104c regularisation scheme was “from the onset another reproduced deception” designed to encourage people with “Duldung” status to cooperate in securing national identity documents.

According to the organisation, those documents were subsequently used to facilitate Germany’s deportation programme.

Deportations leave families in distress

DERS said the human impact of the deportations extended beyond the statistics.

On March 10, a mother and her two children, including one who was autistic and hyperactive, arrived in Lagos without adequate preparation or resources.

“Autism requires specialized support, patience, and routines, things that are difficult to maintain during forced travel,” DERS reported. Other returnees reportedly described the incident as “heartbreaking.”

In another February case, a single mother with a valid residence permit and her three German-born children was deported from Sindelfingen, Stuttgart. DERS alleged that police ignored evidence showing that the family was due to collect their residence cards.

The family had reportedly lived in Germany for nine years and only returned after volunteers intervened.

A mother deported in April reportedly lamented her separation from three children who remained under the care of the child welfare department in Paderborn.

DERS also reported the case of another mother deported from the Tuttlingen area with her 10-year-old daughter, who has asthma.

In a separate incident, a deportee reportedly said he was resident in Spain but was arrested while visiting Kehl in Germany on March 15. He was detained for approximately three weeks before being rapidly processed for deportation to Nigeria.

The April Germany-wide Frontex operation was conducted using a World2Fly charter aircraft. The plane departed Frankfurt in the early hours and arrived shortly before 1pm at the cargo airport in Lagos.

DERS warns of Stuttgart’s growing role

DERS said Stuttgart and Baden-Württemberg were fast emerging as major centres of Germany’s deportation machinery.

The organisation pointed out that both the December 2025 and February 2026 deportation operations departed from Stuttgart. It also referenced AFRICOM’s presence in the state while accusing Germany of “positioning itself as the centre for colonial continuity in the so-called global south.”

“The deliberate and repeated act of state violation of international legal provisions as well as Germany’s own domestic laws to enforce deportation is a cause for concern that we must continue to denounce,” DERS stated.

Group urges Nigerians to speak out

DERS also accused the Nigerian government of failing to adequately respond to reports of violence and alleged rights abuses associated with deportations.

“For the past two decades, Nigeria has always taken the top lead as the major deportation destination country for Germany,” the group said.

It called on Nigerians in the diaspora to raise their voices against what it described as increasingly restrictive and inhumane migration policies.

As monthly deportation operations continue and more mobile identification hearings are scheduled in Karlsruhe, DERS advised Nigerians living in Germany under “Duldung” tolerated status to take precautions.

The organisation also said the deportation programme was imposing significant costs on German taxpayers. According to DERS, operations during the first half of 2025 alone involved 351 security personnel and cost approximately €1.5 million, excluding expenses related to random police arrests, court conveyance and deportation custody.

Note: The supplied report states 457 deportees, but the detailed figures provided in the text (171 + 135 + 147) add up to 453. I retained the reported 457 figure rather than changing the source’s headline statistic.

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