Nigeria govt. receives 542 evacuees from UAE

542 stranded Nigerians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who have been  evacuated by the Federal Government of Nigeria, arrived at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, 4:29 a.m., onboard a Max Air chartered flight on Sunday,October 23rd.

Mr Manzo Ezekiel, Head, Press Unit, NEMA, confirmed this in a statement released  on the same in Abuja.

The evacuees included 79 males, 460 females and three infants. On arrival, the returnees were screened by health officials, profiled by various relevant agencies and cleared by the Nigerian Immigration Service, after which they were given a token as fare before leaving the airport.

The Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Habib Ahmed, officially received the returnees on behalf of the Federal Government and admonished them to learn from their experiences and be law-abiding citizens.

He added that the returnees were screened by health officials, profiled by various relevant agencies and cleared by the Nigerian Immigration Service, before being given a token to aid their transportation to their destinations by NEMA.

Ahmed, who was represented by the Director of Finance and Account of the agency, Mr Sani Jiba, added that the Federal Government had approved the evacuation and provision of the token to support their movement back to their various homes.

The returnees were received by officials of NEMA, Airport officials, security agencies, National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), NAPTIP, NIDCOM, NDLEA, Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigerian Custom Service, NCDC, Port Health Services, amongst others.