TheCable

A total of 300 Nigerians have been evacuated from Dubai via an Emirates flight to Nnamdi Azikwe international airport in Abuja.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), made the announcement in a statement on Friday.

“300 stranded Nigerian travellers arrive Abuja Airport from Dubai. They all tested negative for COVID-19 before boarding,” Dabiri-Erewa said via a tweet.

“They will be tested again at a Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) facility while on a 14-day compulsory self isolation as directed by the Presidential Taskforce (PTF) on COVID-19.”

300 stranded Nigerian travelers arrive Abuja Airport from Dubai. They all tested negative for Covid 19 before boarding . They will be tested again at an ⁦@NCDCgov⁩ facility while on a 14 day compulsory self isolation as directed by the ⁦@DigiCommsNG⁩ pic.twitter.com/vpm7NBXMIP

— Abike Dabiri-Erewa (@abikedabiri) June 19, 2020

Meanwhile, Geoffrey Onyeama, the minister of foreign affairs, also disclosed in an earlier tweet that 56 Nigerians and four Pakistanis were evacuated from Islamabad, Pakistan to Abuja.

“Eventually, 56 Nigerians and 4 Pakistanis were safely evacuated from Islamabad to Abuja on a chartered aircraft operated by TARCO AVIATION Co. Ltd,” Onyeama tweeted.

Eventually, 56 Nigerians and 4 Pakistanis were safely evacuated from Islamabad to Abuja on a chartered aircraft operated by TARCO AVIATION Co. Ltd.

— Geoffrey Onyeama (@GeoffreyOnyeama) June 19, 2020

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The development comes just after the PTF announced on Monday that the federal government will start evacuating 1,000 Nigerians back to country on a weekly basis.

Sani Aliyu, the national coordinator, PTF, said 500 Nigerians will be evacuated to Abuja while the other 500 will be evacuated to Lagos.

He said they will be coming in under the new evacuation protocol developed by the federal government, which requires each passenger to take a COVID-19 test before boarding the plane.