CoronaVirus Updates
Nigeria suspends evacuation of stranded Nigerians abroad
…No more hotel isolation on arrival
BY KAZIE UKO
The federal government says it is suspending further evacuation of Nigerians stranded abroad as countries shut their airspace to international flights to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Minister of foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed this at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 daily press briefing, on Wednesday, in Abuja.
Onyeama said evacuation was being put on hold for now to allow government rearrange the protocols and put a new structure in place.
“The issue of quarantining in hotels would no longer be feasible. There is going to be a change in that protocol and that is going to affect the timing of any further evacuation we are going to undertake.
“Anybody that is going to be evacuated will first of all undergo a test from the countries they are leaving from, at least five days before travel and not later than nine days before.
“That will be a precondition for boarding the flights to Nigeria. If they are positive, they will not be able to board the flight.
“On arrival in Nigeria, @AlikoDangote and his other partners will have in place these units where they will take samples from the passengers coming in and they will retain their passports. The passengers will then be able to go home and not into prescribed hotels to self-isolate.
“Results from those samples will then be ready within a day or two; those who are positive will then be taken in for isolation. The whole issue of quarantining in hotels will no longer be necessary.
“This can also mean more people can also come back more frequently, and it will be a lot easier than it has been up to now.
Giving update on the activities of his ministry with regard to the evacuation process, Onyeama said the process might resume next week when, hopefully, the new structure would have been instituted.
According to the minister, “We are very hopeful that maybe by next week, we should be able to commence evacuation. There is a large number of Nigerians still wanting to be evacuated, in addition to the UK, there are Nigerians in China, this is something we are not happy about.
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“It is a real priority for us to bring all the evacuees back home, but we know those in China are facing very essential challenges and as soon this mechanism is put in place, I’d like to assure them that we’ll do everything possible to prioritise their return.
“In regards to compensation to Nigerians who were caught up in the crisis in #Guangzhou, China due to the discrimination on the basis of nationality and race: I spoke to the Consular General in Guangzhou who was in direct contact with the Nigerians there to provide details of any loss they may have suffered. We will now engage on that basis, with the Chinese Government.
“When I summoned the Chinese Ambassador, Mr. Zhou Pingjian, he also made these commitments, that they will be very interested to receive the details of any complaints or loss, and I must say to date that nothing has come in formally from our Consulate in Guangzhou.”
On the issue of landing clearance for Air Peace @flyairpeace in Canada, Onyeama said: “Our High Commissioner in Canada engaged with the Canadian authorities, I called in the Canadian High Commissioner in Nigeria, to understand why Air Peace wasn’t given landing clearance and the explanation was essentially that Air Peace do not have a track record of going to Canada, so the whole profile of the carrier needed to be ascertained.
With regard to the evacuees in the UK, the minister said that they have been made aware through a publication from the UK High Commissioner in Abuja, that there will be two or three flights coming into the country to evacuate British nationals.
“As you know the last time there was such a flight, we were able to have Nigerian evacuees in UK board the flight. The situation with the flight now coming is that, the UK Government which is effectively chartering these planes, in the contract that they have with those companies are to carry passengers ONLY from Nigeria back to the UK. Furthermore, the plans we have in place is to use a Nigerian carrier to evacuate Nigerians from all the countries around the world where we have an evacuation operation,” he explained.
Onyeama thanked the government of #Lebanon for helping to facilitate the evacuation of 69 Nigerians and also the Lebanese community in Nigeria who funded the cost of the flight.