Headlines
Emirates aborts flight as Nigerian woman delivers mid air
…Evacuation of Nigerians from Dubai at no cost to Nigeria
BY EMMANUEL OGWU
A Nigerian woman was delivered of a baby mid-air, aboard Emirates Airline flight evacuating Nigerian citizens from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The aircraft had to abort the flight as it returned to land in Dubai.
The flight, which, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, was arranged by the government of UAE and at no cost to Nigerian government, was earlier scheduled to have arrived at 3pm.
Onyeama who was quoted in a tweet on the Twitter handle of the Presidency Office of Digital Communication said: “A woman went into labour on the evacuation flight from Dubai today. The flight had to return to land.
“Mother & child are doing very well in hospital.
“The flight is now back on its way to Nigeria, and should land by 7pm today. #PTFCOVID19.”
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The minister further revealed: “Today’s evacuation flight on Emirates was arranged by UAE Govt, independent of @NigeriaGov. The UAE has been making its own arrangements to repatriate foreign nationals, to various countries, not just Nigeria. Today’s flight is part of that arrangement.
Onyeama said that there were about 4,000 Nigerians abroad awaiting evacuation to Nigeria and that the government was speaking with some local airline operators to evacuate them.