252 stranded Nigerians arrive from Dubai

Two hundred and fifty two Nigerians who were stranded in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos yesterday.

The Emirates flight departed Dubai at 10:20am (7:20am Nigerian time) and arrived Lagos at about 3pm, it was learnt.

Yesterday’s arrival brought to 4,984 the number of Nigerians evacuated from

Dubai during the COVID-19 pandemic. The UAE government had given Nigerians with expired documents till August 17 to leave the country.

The Nigerian government immediately swung into action to evacuate them which started since last week.

Among the returnees yesterday, 180 had their tickets paid for by the UAE government for those who claimed they couldn’t afford a return ticket, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) confirmed on its Twitter handle last night.

It said, “In total, 18 flights have so far evacuated 4,984 Nigerians from Dubai. Out of which the UAE government paid for 517 Nigerians on three Fly Dubai flights, and 380 Nigerians on Emirates Airline.” NIDCOM confirmed that an additional 174 Nigerians would leave Dubai on August 25 aboard Fly Dubai paid for by the UAE government.

This, it said, would bring the total number of Nigerians evacuated gratis by the Dubai authorities to 1,071.

Most Nigerians were stranded in the Middle East country in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the flight ban imposed by countries to curb the spread of the virus. The Chairman/CEO of NIDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had while speaking with newsmen at the MMIA penultimate week urged Nigerians whose travel documents had expired and were still stranded in Dubai to take advantage of the evacuation flights.