The Federal Government has commenced the evacuation of another batch of 15 Nigerians stranded in Europe. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) disclosed this on Thursday via its Twitter handle.

As of 11am, the commission said the evacuees would depart the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris via an Air France flight to Nigeria and Cotonou, Benin Republic. It explained that the evacuation exercise was coordinated by the Nigerian Mission in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, and monitored by NIDCOM. According to the commission, the returnees are expected to arrive at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos at about 4:45pm.

It noted that the evacuees would proceed on 14 days self-isolation as mandated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Federal Ministry of Health, and the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.

The evacuation of the latest batch of Nigerians comes barely a day after more than 400 Nigerians returned to the country from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India.

In separate tweets on Wednesday, NIDCOM stated that 246 people returned from UAE and 162 others were evacuated from India.

It noted that the returnees from Dubai arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at 3:30pm on Wednesday, adding that the Nigerian Mission in Dubai and the UAE government paid for the flight tickets and COVID-19 test for 131 evacuees.

The returnees from India, on the other hand, arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja after about four hours. Ninety-six evacuees disembarked in Abuja while the remaining 66 proceeded to Lagos. ChannelsTv