The federal government would on Wednesday begin evacuation of about 4,000 Nigerians willing to return to the country, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, has said.
The minister said this at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on Control of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
He said the evacuation flights for Nigerians would commence with an Emirates Airline flight from Dubai to Lagos, to be followed by a British Airways flight from London to Lagos and Ethiopian Airline from the United States on Friday.
“We want to do it as quickly as possible, but it hasn’t been easy. Within two weeks, we hope we can do that. Recalled that the federal government had said interested persons would be responsible for the cost of logistics to return to the country.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also instructed that the financial implications will be borne by the prospective evacuees, who will be compulsorily quarantined when they return.
“So by God’s Grace on Wednesday we would start the process of repatriating our nations from outside the country. There are about almost 4, 000 Nigerians wishing to come back home. If we had our way we will bring them all back immediately and all at once, but there are various constraints and the biggest constraints is where to quarantine them –the beds.
“We have done everything we can to get beds here in Abuja and in Lagos. In Lagos we have almost 300 beds available, and I would like to take some time out to again express our gratitude to the governor of Lagos state because without his personal engagement it would have been more difficult for us. So the first flight (Emirates) on Wednesday will be to Lagos,” he said.
