Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Federal Government, yesterday, evacuated 270 Nigerians stranded in the Arab Republic of Egypt to Nigeria.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed the evacuation on his Twitter handle, @GeoffreyOnyeama.
Onyeama further said the Egypt Air conveying the returnees also had on board two Egyptian nationals.
The flight, the minister also disclosed, will arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Onyeama said: “@EGYPTAIR conveying 270 Nigerian evacuees and two Egyptian Nationals from Cairo, #Egypt has departed for Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.”
Also commenting on the evacuation, the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), said on its Twitter handle, @nidcom_gov that the returnees arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at exactly 2:30 pm local time yesterday.
The Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission also said all evacuees tested negative to COVID-19 and were proceeding on 14 days self-isolation.
In a related development, the Consulate General of Nigeria in New York, United States, has disclosed of the planned fourth evacuation of Nigerians in the United States.
The Consulate General, in a statement made available to Daily Sun in Abuja, said the Federal Government approved a fourth evacuation flight for stranded Nigerians in the United States which will be Ethiopian Airlines Flight Number ET509.
The flight, the Consulate General added, is scheduled to depart Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey on Tuesday, 28th July, 2020 by 21:15hrs and arrive Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on Wednesday, 29th July, 2020 by 13:25hrs.