Filipinos in Nigeria

Infobox Ethnic group
group = Filipinos in Nigeria


poptime = 4,500 (2007)citation|title=Filipinos in Nigeria to be flown home|periodical=The Manila Times|url=http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/may/05/yehey/top_stories/20070505top5.html|date=5 May, 2007|accessdate=2008-10-10]
popplace = Abuja, Niger Deltacitation|periodical=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6285703.stm|title=Filipinos face Nigeria work ban|date=22 January, 2007|accessdate=2008-10-10] citation|periodical=Manila Standard Today|title=Travel ban on Nigeria won't hold, DFA says|date=23 June, 2006|url=http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics05_june23_2006|last=Fabella|first= Ferdinand|accessdate=2008-10-10]
langs = Tagalog, other languages of the Philippines, English
rels = No data
related = Overseas Filipinos

Filipinos in Nigeria consist largely of migrant workers in the oil industry, though those in the capital city Abuja also work in the education and medical sectors. By mid-2008, their numbers had grown to an estimated 4,500, up from 3,790 in December 2005.citation|title=Filipino workers recount nightmare in Nigeria|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view_article.php?article_id=64666|periodical=The Inquirer|publication-place=Manila|date=8 May, 2007|accessdate=2008-10-10|last=Quismundo|first=Tarra] They commonly hold skilled construction positions, among them pipe layers, welders, and engineers, and may earn as much as US$10,000 per month; however, they often find themselves the target of violence by local militants. [citation|periodical=Manila Standard Today|last=Caber|first=Michael|title=Kidnappers, officials meet on hostages in Nigeria|url=http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news4_may5_2007|date=5 May, 2007|accessdate=2008-10-10]

In January 2007, Philippine president Gloria Arroyo imposed a ban on further travel to Nigeria in response to the kidnapping of twenty-four Filipino sailors from a boat in the Niger Delta state of Warri, coming on the heels of nearly a hundred incidents of foreigners being taken hostage in the previous few months.citation|periodical=The Statesman|title=More woes for Filipinos in Nigeria|url=http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?section=1&newsid=2174|date=24 January, 2007|accessdate=2008-10-10] However, workers already in Nigeria were permitted to stay there, and the government indicated that they did not plan to evacuate them. There had been only seven Filipino victims of abductions in Nigeria in all of 2006, compared to the twenty-four in January 2007.citation|url=http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/feb/10/yehey/top_stories/20070210top3.html|periodical=The Manila Times|date=10 February, 2007|accessdate=2008-10-10|title=DFA won't evacuate OFWs in Nigeria|last=Cueto|first=Francis Earl A.] The ban was relaxed just two months later, allowing workers with pre-existing contracts to return to Nigeria; by May, the Filipino government estimated the number of workers had grown to 4,500. That month saw the repatriation of 45 Filipinos working for Daewoo Engineering and Construction, after they had been released by gunmen who kidnapped them from their camp in Port Harcourt.

Despite the relaxation of the ban, it remained in place through the end of the year; Filipino workers largely ignored a government appeal to return home (which included the promise of an amnesty for those who had gone to Nigeria undocumented or in violation of the ban), after the announcement that anyone who returned to the Philippines for the Christmas holiday would not be allowed to depart for Nigeria again. [citation|title=Come home, DFA tells OFWs in Iraq, Nigeria|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=64352|periodical=The Inquirer|publication-place=Manila|last=Quismundo|first=Tarra|date=5 June, 2007|accessdate=2008-10-10] [citation|title=Banned from coming home for Christmas|periodical=The Inquirer|publication-place=Manila|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view_article.php?article_id=64666|date=17 December, 2007|accessdate=2008-10-10|last=Azarcon dela Cruz|first=Pennie] The Christmas season in Nigeria was marred by further violence, with one group of nineteen migrant workers attacked twice in two weeks, first on board their ship and then at their hotel, resulting in one death; the survivors were also repatriated to Manila. [citation|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080106-110695/UPDATE_18_Filipino_seamen_recall_ordeal_in_Nigeria|periodical=The Inquirer|publication-place=Manila|date=6 January, 2008|accessdate=2008-10-10|title=18 Filipino seamen recall ordeal in Nigeria|last=Quismundo|first=Tarra]

References