The Republic of Gabon has evicted 215 Nigerians from that country despite living there for decades, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said.

NEMA said it has evacuated all of the deportees Sunday night after they were stranded following their eviction by Gabonese authorities. "The evacuation was necessitated after the Gabonese authorities issued an eviction notice to Nigerian fishermen living in Nende, Mouka and Kenza Islands to move away even though majority of them had lived there for several decades doing their legitimate businesses," NEMA spokesman, Yusha'u Shuaibu said in a statement yesterday.

The returnees, he said were flown to Port-Harcourt International airport before their onward journey to their respective states.

Yusa'u said most of the returnees are from Bayelsa state with few from Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Imo and Abia states, and they all signified their willingness to be returned with their families after the eviction notice.

The evacuation was carried out after on-the-spot-assessment of the situation by the federal ministry of Foreign affairs before a chartered aircraft was deployed to convey the deportees back home.