Two hundred and eighty-eight more Nigerians have returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), taking the number of evacuees from the Arab nation to 2,641. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) disclosed this in a tweet via its official handle on Monday.

It explained that the evacuees arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 11:00 am onboard an Air Peace flight. Although the agency said the evacuees had tested negative to COVID-19, they would be undergoing a mandatory 14-day self-isolation, in line with the guidelines issued by the Federal Government.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted regular daily activities in several countries across the world, leaving millions of people stranded in foreign nations. Against the backdrop of the outbreak, many countries initiated the process of evacuating their citizens back home.

Nigeria is not left out as the Federal Government has facilitated the repatriation of thousands of its citizens stranded abroad. Among the nations where Nigerians have been brought back home include the United States, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Sudan, France, Ethiopia, and several others.

Monday’s evacuation from the UAE comes two days after 311 Nigerians returned from the country.

On Sunday, NIDCOM said 327 Nigerians returned from the United Kingdom. As at June 2020, the Federal Government said it had spent N169 million on the evacuation of Nigerians from overseas.

During a briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on April, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, had directed all Nigerians interested in returning to the country to work with Nigeria’s embassies and high commissions where they are.

“What is important to get out to all Nigerians is that their engagement and communication should be with the embassies, high commissions and not with any other parallel agency, department of government or anything like that.” ChannelsTv