Europe is quietly deporting Nigerians in large numbers. By late 2025, data cited by Statewatch, a UK based civil liberties group, indicated that more than 1,800 Nigerians had been deported from Europe within a single year, with Germany accounting for the majority.

This was revealed in the latest edition of The Insight Vodcast, a weekly news explainer produced by Adejuwon Soyinka, a UK based two-time Emmy nominated Nigerian investigative journalist.

Titled, “Why Europe Is Deporting Nigerians,” the episode analyses how European governments are accelerating removals, officially termed “returns,” amid election pressure, rising far-right influence, and overstretched asylum systems.

The programme explains why Nigeria has emerged as a test case in the EU’s evolving migration policy including the size of the Nigerian diaspora in Europe, Nigeria’s diplomatic and economic leverage, and the precedent such cooperation sets for wider Africa.

Nigerians form one of the largest African migrant populations in Europe, with more than 260,000 living in the EU by late 2024.

The programme also explores how deportations are being made faster and quieter through administrative shortcuts, third-country arrangements, and technical language that masks human consequences.

The episode features Frey Lindsay, an investigative journalist at Statewatch, who has been tracking Europe’s outsourcing of border control. The discussion unpacks what the EU wants from Nigeria, who is most vulnerable within this system, and why legal safeguards are increasingly at risk.

“This is not just about migration enforcement,” said Soyinka. “It is about how Europe redraws its borders without moving them and why Nigerians are increasingly caught at the centre of that strategy.”

The Insight Vodcast delivers clear, data-driven analysis on migration, power, and the African experience at home and abroad. The full episode is now available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theinsightvodcast