Federal Government has so far evacuated 6,317 Nigerians from 21 countries due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
The nationals were repatriated from the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France, India, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Sudan, Kenya, Senegal and others.
Dabiri-Erewa disclosed this on Tuesday while addressing Journalists on the forthcoming National Diaspora Day celebration slated for 25th July 2020 with the theme “Leveraging Diaspora resources for national development.”
She however said there are more Nigerians still stranded abroad and awaiting evacuation due to the global lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dabiri-Erewa also stated that the FG evacuated 501 citizens on September 11 and 18, 2019 during the xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa.
She expressed;
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.
According to Dabiri-Erewa, with the support of Air Peace Nigeria Ltd, there had been multiple evacuations from some countries.
She lauded Nigerians in the diaspora for their support, noting that they have donated over N50 million to the nation in support of the campaign against COVID-19.
The NiDCOM boss also commended many Nigerians for achieving various feats in their disciplines abroad, noting that they have made the country proud.
