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FG to bring back wiling Nigerians from Abroad


Baring last minute’s hitches, the protocols for evacuating Nigerians in the Diaspora have been completed. As a result, the country was in a “stronger and better position” to bring Nigerians interested in returning to the country back, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffery Onyeama, has said.

The Minister stated this in reaction to a question about letters and reports regarding Nigerians being stuck outside the country during the daily briefings by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

He said, “We have started to get greater number of Nigerians, especially in the United States, where almost 200 have now indicated their willingness to return.”

“We are engaging with our embassy in China and our High Commissioners in London and also in France to work out all the logistics but things are now beginning to fall in place and we are getting the sense of what needs to be done.”

It will be recalled that several countries, including Canada, Israel, and the United States, have evacuated citizens of different countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government has, however, since announced plans to bring those interested in returning back and asked its foreign missions to compile names.

“The evacuations had been part of the government’s plans since the international airports were closed,” Mr Onyeama said. He explained that the process was delayed to enable the government sort out the logistics involved.

This is how he put it: “The response is not as a result of letters or whatever that has been coming in from Nigerians in the Diaspora as has been mentioned in some media houses but actually something that was taken up by the task force right from the beginning.

He added that at the beginning, the country didn’t have all the isolation centres and all the other logistical arrangements in place. So for that reason, he noted further, the authorities kept it in abeyance while putting the necessary things in place.

“And now that we have all those things in place, we are in a stronger and better position to bring Nigerians outside the country back,” Onyeama said.

He directed all Nigerians interested in returning back home to the country to work with Nigeria’s embassies and High Commissions where they reside.

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