Federal Government will continue to discourage Nigerians from embarking on illegal migration to Europe, saying those stuck in foreign countries will continue be repatriated back home.

President Muhammadu Buhari said this at a joint news conference with the visiting German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, after a closed-door meeting between the two leaders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari revealed that the Federal Government had so far repatriated more than 3,000 illegal migrants, who were stranded in Libya on their way to Europe.

“I’m against those (my) countrymen and women that illegally find their ways to other countries other than Nigeria.

“But I believe you know that the ECOWAS Protocol includes free movement of persons and goods and services.

“But for those going to Europe we are not as an administration in agreement with those Nigerians who try to defy the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean because they feel there are greener pasture there, whether they are pre-paid, free or not.

“It will be recalled that we repatriated about 3,000 Nigerians that were stuck in Libya on their way to Europe.

“You also must have read in the newspapers or seen in the television stations the number of Nigerians lost in the Mediterranean,’’ he said.

President Buhari further warned that the government would continue to repatriate those who refused to listen to its advice, adding that illegal migrants were putting their lives in danger.

He stressed that Nigerians involved in illegal migration are doing so at their own risk.

“I’m against my countrymen and women who illegally find their way to other countries.

“We do not, as an administration agree for Nigerians to defy the desert and the Mediterranean because they feel that there are greener pastures over there. We do not support anything illegal and indiscipline.

“We do not support anything illegal and anybody who feels that his country does not value him or offer him what he should be offered as a citizen and decide to defy the desert and the Mediterranean is doing it at his own risk,” he said.

While Merkel revealed efforts of the German government to tackle the scourge of illegal migration, President Buhari said his government has made efforts to repatriate some Nigerians, especially those stranded in Libya.

Other issue discussed by both leaders include economic cooperation between both countries, among others.