Over 2,000 stranded Nigerians in US evacuated

GEOFFREY-ONYEAMA

Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs

Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs

By Muhaimin Olowoporoku

2,322 Nigerian citizens stranded in the United States have been evacuated, according to the federal government of Nigeria.

This was revealed by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ferdinand Nwoye. A statement released to this effect on Friday reveals that the last evacuation flight for stranded Nigerians departed Newark New Jersey on Thursday.

It is contained in the statement that the flight departed on Thursday, 20th August 2020 around 21:51 hours and estimated to arrive in Abuja by 12:41 hours and Lagos by 14:31 hours on Friday, 21st August.

“The flight manifest includes 87 male, 111 female and 10 infants, with a total of 89 passengers for Abuja and 119 for Lagos. This last flight brought the total number of stranded Nigerians evacuated from the USA to 2, 322 returnees.”

Recall that on Thursday, the ministry revealed that 186 stranded emigrants took off about 18:40 hrs local time for Lagos from OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg.

Nwoye highlighted that the eight and last batch of evacuation flight from the United Kingdom departed Gatwick Airport, London for Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on Friday, August 21, 2020, at 1.35 pm with 236 returnees.

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