The 324 Nigerians who were stranded in the United states due to coronavirus has been evacuated by the Federal Government and arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Saturday.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama announced their departure from Newark Airport, New Jersey, on Twitter Saturday morning.
Onyeama stated that the flight left the American soil on Friday and is due to arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 15:35 pm Saturday.
The Nigerians evauated from US arrived Nigeria on Saturday afternoon.
The flight is part of efforts to bring back stranded Nigerians abroad amid the coronavirus pandemic.
At least two more evacuation flights are expected from the country on July 28 and 31 respectively, Onyeama said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, 212 Nigerians are also expected to arrive Abuja on Saturday via Turkish Airlines from Cyprus, the Minister added in a later tweet.
“Some of the evacuees are Nigerian students from Cyprus, Nigerian professionals in Turkey, and few Nigerian professional footballers,” Onyeama said.
EVACUATION UPDATE: @TurkishAirlines flight TK 4915 conveying 212 Nigerian evacuees from #Cyprus, has departed for Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The flight is expected to arrive Abuja at 15:05 pm local time today, 18th July, 2020.
— Geoffrey Onyeama (@GeoffreyOnyeama) July 18, 2020