The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission NIDCOM has stated that an overwhelming number of Nigerians residing in the United Kingdom, United States, China and in West Africa, have been registering with the Nigerian missions for evacuation to Nigeria following the global Coronavirus pandemic.
This comes a week after Federal government announced that a directive has been issued to all the Nigerian Embassies to compile the names of Nigerians who would want to be evacuated to Nigeria. According to the directive, those to be evacuated must be ready to foot their flight bills and also must be ready to observe a 14-days mandatory isolation once they arrive Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview with Punch, the spokesperson of NIDCOM, Abdul-Rahman Balogun, said many Nigerians have been sending in mails inquirying on how they can be evacuated.
“Nigerians are responding overwhelmingly from China, UK, US and also from West Africa. We can’t quote a figure because the registration is still ongoing. A lot of people have been sending emails to us. The response has been overwhelming. Some said they were ready to be quarantined on their return to the country; they are ready to pay for the evacuation. Some also have their air tickets but they could not come before the lockdown order was implemented.” he said
The Nigerian Embassy in the US, on Sunday April 5, sent out a letter to all Nigerians residing in the US, announcing that that it had begun compiling names of Nigerians willing to return home. See a copy of the letter below
