By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The Nigerian government on Friday made good its pledge to bring back citizens stranded in foreign countries due to the coronavirus pandemic and the global lockdown it precipitated.
On Friday, about 300 Nigerians evacuated from the United Kingdom landed in Lagos aboard a British Airways flight. They were subsequently taken to Abuja for a 14-day mandatory quarantine.
The federal government announced on Tuesday that the process of evacuating willing Nigerian nationals outside the country would start on Wednesday.
The statement went further to say that the evacuees on arrival in Nigeria will undergo a mandatory 14-day supervised quarantine in a monitored environment.
The first batch of 265 Nigerians were flown back to Lagos from Dubai on Wednesday aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, confirmed the Friday arrivals.
According to her: “The first evacuation from the UK has landed in Lagos. The passengers will be proceeding to Abuja where they will be on 14-day compulsory isolation.”
It was gathered they arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos around 01.43 pm on Friday.
Nigeria closed its international airports in March and has only been allowing special flights to repatriate foreign citizens to their home countries.
