The Federal Government has evacuated another batch of 65 Nigerians stranded in some European countries and Pakistan, The Nation has learnt.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, announced the evacuation in a tweet.
The breakdown shows that 50 of the evacuees came in from Pakistan while 15 are from five different European nations of Belgium, France, Germany, Holland and Estonia.
According to a source at the Nnamdi Azikwe airport, the evacuees from Pakistan arrived around 1am on Friday.
Onyeama said in a tweet: “Air France flight departed Paris to Lagos today (Thursday June 18, 2020) ans there were 15 Nigerians on board from France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Estonia who had registered for the evacuation with the Nigerian Missions in these countries.”
In another tweet, he stated, “An aircraft conveying 50 of our narionals stranded in Oakistan and one Pakistani nariinal departed Islamabad International Airport at about 16.05 hours (4.05pm) local time.
“It is expected to arrive Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja at 3.00am on Friday June 19, 2020. ”
The latest arrival brings to 1,588 Nigerians that have been evacuated since the global lockdown occassioned by COVID-19 pandemic.
1,523 Nigerians had been evacuated as at June 13, 2020.
There are over 4,000 Nigerians stranded in various countries across the globe.
The Federal Government had set a maximum of four weeks to complete their evacuation.
The Presidential Taskforce (PTF) said it will evacuate 1000 weekly.
According to PTF Coordinator, Dr. Sani Aliyu, 500 of the evacuees would be landing in Abuja and the other 500 would land in Lagos.
He said they will be coming in under the new evacuation protocol which demands for a pre-evacuation test.