Pinoys in Nigeria welcome lifting of deployment ban

Filipinos in Nigeria welcomed the lifting of a ban on the deployment of Philippine workers there, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.   The DFA said overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Nigeria welcomed the news when Charge d'affaires Alex Lamadrid announced the decision of the Philippine government during a Filipino Sports Day in Abuja on March 25.   "(Lamadrid) announced the lifting of the deployment ban to Nigeria, to the joy of all OFWs in attendance," the DFA said in a news release.   The DFA had recommended the lifting of the deployment ban to Nigeria effective January 1, 2012 because of the improved security situation there.   The ban stemmed from kidnapping incidents in the Niger Delta involving Filipino seafarers from 2006 to 2009.   An earlier DFA news release said there are 7,240 Filipinos in Nigeria, mostly professionals and Filipino nationals married to Nigerians. - VVP, GMA News