The Chairman of the Nigerian in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said on Tuesday the Federal Government had evacuated 6,317 Nigerians back home from 21 countries over COVID-19.
Dabiri-Erewa, who addressed journalists in Abuja ahead of the forthcoming National Diaspora Day celebration slated for July 25, said Nigerians were evacuated from the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France, India, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Sudan, Kenya, Senegal, Cyprus, and South Africa, among others.
She, however, added that many Nigerians stranded in foreign countries were still awaiting evacuation.
The NiDCOM chief added that the federal government evacuated 501 citizens from South Africa in September last year over xenophobic attacks.
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She said: “Currently, as COVID-19 is still on the rampage, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nigerian Missions around the world have evacuated and still evacuating stranded Nigerians across the world.
“So far, we have evacuated 806 from the US; UK (831); Saudi Arabia (117); Egypt (372); France (70); India (540); UAE (1,405); Turkey (324); Sudan (365) and Uganda & Kenya (172).”
Others are Senegal (17), Pakistan (56), Egypt (102), China (268), Malaysia and Thailand (247), Lebanon (147), Canada (51), South Africa (324) and Ghana (205).”
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