Chinelo Obogo
The Federal Government has evacuated 94 Nigerian girls who were stranded in Lebanon including those who appeared in a recent viral video.
The ladies arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos on Wednesday, August 12, in a special flight organised by the Federal Government following the viral video where the girls were seen pleading for help.
The Middle East Airline (MEA) flight which conveyed them arrived by 5 p.m and they were recieved by the Executive Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa and representatives of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP).
Among the young ladies, 54 of them who were from Oyo State were received by the Senior Special Assistant to the Oyo State Government on Diaspora, Bolanle Sarumi Aliyu.
The Lagos State Territorial Office Coordinator of NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the agency would accommodate them in a hotel for a night and later on, give them stipends to go to their respective destinations on Thursday, saying they would also benefit in the ongoing Public Works Programme of the government.
Addressing newsmen at the arrival hall of the airport, Dabiri-Erewa said about 300 of the girls would be recieved in three different flights, saying another flight with 104 girls is being expected.
She advised girls who were in Lebanon irregularly to take advantage of the gesture of President Muhammadu Buhari who approved the evacuation flights to return home, saying the Lebanese government had abolished work visa.