NEMA evacuates 191 stranded Nigerians from India

The returnees, who were evacuated by NEMA on behalf of the Federal Government, arrived in an Ethiopian Airlines chartered flight, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 4:40 p.m.

They were received by a team led by NEMA and other relevant agencies, after being profiled and screened.

The returnees were then given a token of one hundred U.S. dollars each, to aid their transportation back to their respective destinations.

Addressing the returnees, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, welcomed them on behalf of the Federal Government.

The minister, who was represented by Dr Suleiman Abubakar, a deputy director at the ministry, admonished them to be law-abiding.

She said the token provided to them by the government was meant to support their movement home.

Also, Director-General, NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed, advised the returnees to learn from their experiences and be law-abiding citizens.

Ahmed, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Search and Rescue, Mr Ishaya Chonoko, said the Federal Government had approved the evacuation to ease the suffering of Nigerians stranded abroad.

Mr Iwuchukwu Gospel, who spoke on behalf of the other returnees, appreciated the Federal Government for the special intervention in their safe evacuation back home.

“We thank the government for bringing us back, though for myself I went there some months back and when I got there, I saw that Nigeria was better than where I went to.

“I made up my mind that I am coming back, but I want to plead with the Federal Government to help bring others back,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the returnees were received by NEMA staff, Nigerian Police, Nigerian Immigration Service, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, NAPTIP, NiDCom, NDLEA, among others.