BY Chinedu Asadu
Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of Lagos state, has reportedly paid for the return flight of 50 Nigerians stranded in Russia.
There have been reports of scores of Nigerians who travelled to the country for the World Cup but were unable to leave, having discovered that they were swindled.
Writing via his Instagram page on Saturday, Nnamdi Odimegwu, a motivational speaker, said he was in the company of the governor when he extended the gesture.
According to him, 19 of the Nigerians are already on their way back to the country while 31 are awaiting scheduled to board their flight on Saturday evening.
He wrote: “I had a pick up arrangement today at the airport in Moscow and had a rare privilege of meeting His excellency, the governor of Lagos state; the most populous and commercial Hub of Nigeria.
“I quickly introduced myself while I waited for my pick up arrangement to come out. We had a small chat and exchanged knowledge and wisdom while I waited.
“He bade me farewell as his pick up arrangement had arrived. After a few minutes, my pick up arrived as well so we set out to the car park.
“As soon as we came out of the airport, I saw a crowd of over 50 Nigerians who had been stranded at the airport for almost 10-15 days now. And in their middle was this same man, His excellency, Governor Ambode. As soon as he sighted me, he quickly called my attention to assist.
“It was a pathetic state and a lot of words both pleasant and unpleasant were being exchanged. Then his Excellency did something that amazed me. He showed solidarity and quickly pledged to send all 50 stranded Nigerians home and assigned me to oversee the transfers and procurement of new tickets to send them home.
“As I type this, 19 out of this 50 are already on air to Lagos Nigeria, the remaining 31 are leaving this evening. His excellency also fed them all as he gave them cash to eat while they waited for their tickets to fly home.”
Habib Haruna, Chief press secretary to the governor, did not pick calls made by TheCable to confirm the report. He had also not replied a text message sent as of the time this report was filed.
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