No fewer than 197 Nigerian refugees who were taking refuge in the Republic of Cameroon have been sent back home at the weekend.

The Nigerians have been taking refuge in Cameroon for the past two years after being displaced by the crises in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Manzo Ezekiel said on Sunday that NEMA’s Director of Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Charles Otegbade received the returnees on behalf of Nigeria in Sahuda border post near Mubi in Adamawa at the weekend.

He quoted Otegbade as saying the Nigerians had to return home as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) was closing its camps in Cameroon.

NEMA said the returnees have already been transported to their various homes across 12 states.

At least, 57,000 Nigerians are presently taking refuge in the neighboring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon with the latter having the highest number of 40,366 refugees.