Coronavirus: FG to evacuate Nigerians stranded abroad

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed all its missions in coronavirus hit countries to compile a list of willing Nigerians who wished to come back home, Punch reports.

This move, according to the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, was made following requests by Nigerians stranded abroad in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

She said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had made it known to interested Nigerians that “the financial implications will be borne by the prospective evacuees, who will be compulsorily quarantined when they returned”.

In a statement by the Head, Media and Public Relations Unit, NIDCOM, Abdur-Rahman Balogun on Friday, April 3, 2020, Nigerians abroad are said to have been instructed to inform the embassy in their country of residence about their intention to return to Nigeria.

The statement reads in part, “The interested Nigerians are advised to inform the missions in the various countries they are in, which will then collate and coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“To this end, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa urged Nigerians stranded abroad willing to return home to key into this Federal Government gesture by providing information to the mission in their respective host countries.”