COVID-19: FG set to evacuate Nigerians abroad

Nigerians abroad who are willing to return to the country in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic are to be evacuated back home, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) said on Friday.

According to a statement by the Head of Media and Public Relations Unit of NIDCOM, Abdulrahman Balogun, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed all its missions abroad to compile a list of willing Nigerian nationals who wished to come back home.

The statement quoted the Chairman of NIDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, as saying that the directive was was sequel to requests received from Nigerians stranded abroad because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dabiri-Erewa however said the ministry had instructed that “the financial implications will be borne by the prospective evacuees, who will be compulsorily quarantined when they returned”.

The statement further said those interested in returning should inform the embassy in their country of residence about their intention to return to Nigeria.

The statement read 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.”