Nigerians in Libya Fear October 1 Threat

Nigerians living in Libya entered October 1, 2026, under a cloud of uncertainty after days of social media warnings, reported arrests and anti-migrant threats prompted some workers to stay home and others to consider leaving the country.

The date had circulated for weeks as an alleged deadline for migrants and foreigners—particularly Africans without valid immigration documents—to leave Libya. But despite the fear surrounding the warning, no publicly verifiable nationwide Libyan government decree establishing October 1 as a compulsory departure date has emerged.Refugees in Libya, a survivor-led migrant rights organisation, described the October 1 deadline as unverified, while warning that the threats surrounding it should not be dismissed. The organisation said social media posts included threats of violence and references to targeting Black migrants in parts of Tripoli. 

Libya Security Monitor separately reported that an anti-foreigner campaign had gained traction online in the run-up to October 1, with posts calling for migrants to leave and some containing hostile or violent rhetoric. It also reported that messages purporting to come from UNHCR were circulating among migrant communities. 

don’t Come to Work

For Nigerians on the ground, however, the distinction between an official order and a viral threat has offered little comfort.

Nigerians interviewed by SaharaReporters said some Libyan colleagues had advised them not to report for work on October 1, while some landlords had allegedly asked African tenants to find alternative accommodation. Others reported hearing that African migrants were already being arrested. 

One worker said his Libyan colleagues urged him to remain indoors because of the uncertainty surrounding the day.

Another Nigerian resident said the fear had spread beyond undocumented migrants because people could not tell whether any security operation would be limited to those without valid papers.

The accounts have not all been independently verified, but they come against a broader atmosphere of anti-migrant agitation documented by migrant-rights monitors in Libya. Refugees in Libya said some online material went beyond opposition to migration and included explicit threats of violence. 

Nigerians Seeking a Way Home

The situation took another turn on Thursday when SaharaReporters quoted the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission as saying it had received numerous requests from Nigerians seeking to return from Libya.

NiDCOM spokesperson Abdur-Rahman Balogun was quoted as saying the commission was “not aware” of the supposed October 1 deadline. He added that the agency had received petitions from Nigerians seeking assistance to return but currently lacked the capacity to bring all of them home. 

Nigeria has previously worked with the International Organisation for Migration and other agencies to evacuate stranded citizens from Libya. NiDCOM said earlier that 956 Nigerians were evacuated from Libya during the first three months of 2025 alone. 

The Nigerian Embassy in Tripoli also advises Nigerians travelling to or working in Libya to obtain the required work and residence permits and warns of the risks associated with irregular migration. 

What Is Verified — and What Is Not?

What remains unverified is crucial: there is still no publicly established evidence in the sources reviewed that the Libyan government issued a nationwide decree ordering all Nigerians—or all foreigners—to leave by October 1.

Warnings circulated online have variously been attributed to international organisations, but the reports themselves do not establish that those messages originated from the organisations whose names were attached to them. Refugees in Libya has instead focused attention on the security threat created by the campaign and called on Libyan authorities to prevent attacks. 

What is documented is an increasingly hostile online campaign against migrants and mounting anxiety among Nigerians and other Africans living in Libya.

That leaves October 1 caught between an unverified deadline and a very real security concern.

For Nigerians who have built homes and livelihoods in Libya, the immediate question is no longer simply whether the viral deadline is genuine. It is whether the threats surrounding it will translate into arrests, evictions or violence—and what assistance will be available if they decide they need to leave.