‘Skies unsafe to fly’- Dabiri-Erewa speaks on Nigerians stranded in Middle East
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“Never been this helpless before in my life, nine days stuck in Qatar with my family and other Nigerians who were on transit. Countries have picked up their citizens from here; it’s mostly Nigerians that are left,” the user wrote.
Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said Nigerians stranded in parts of the Middle East will have to wait for the reopening of regional airspace before evacuation flights can begin.
Dabiri-Erewa made the disclosure while responding to complaints from a Nigerian citizen reportedly stranded in Qatar with his family.
The stranded traveller had taken to X to express frustration, saying he and other Nigerians had been stuck in Qatar for nine days while other countries evacuated their citizens.
“Never been this helpless before in my life — nine days stuck in Qatar with my family and other Nigerians who were on transit. Countries have picked up their citizens from here; it’s mostly Nigerians that are left,” the user wrote.
Responding, Dabiri-Erewa explained that evacuation flights cannot operate yet because the region’s airspace remains unsafe due to ongoing hostilities.
“As for repatriation flights, the skies are currently unsafe to fly. Once the airspace opens, the multi-agency Federal Government team on crisis and evacuation is on standby,” she said.
She added that a flight from the United Arab Emirates managed to land in Lagos two days earlier before fresh strikes forced the closure of the airspace again.
Earlier, Dabiri-Erewa disclosed that the Federal Government had already begun evacuating Nigerians willing to leave Iran through the Armenia border.
According to her, officials of the Nigerian embassy in Tehran are escorting Nigerians to the Armenian border where arrangements are being made for their safe passage.
She also assured that no Nigerian in Iran has been reported harmed since the conflict began.
Tensions in the Middle East escalated after Iran launched retaliatory strikes over alleged missile activities by the United States from a base in Qatar, triggering an exchange of attacks involving Israel.
The hostilities, which began on February 28, have forced several countries, including Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar to shut their airspace, leaving many travellers stranded across the region.
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