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General News of Friday, 24 April 2020

Source: www.mynigeria.com

UK to evacuate 900 Brits stranded in Nigeria

British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing

The United Kingdom is set to evacuate about 900 of its citizens stranded in Nigeria in three phases, according to the UK government.

About 1,100 Brits have been evacuated via the Lagos and Abuja airports Nigeria on government charter flights as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Priority list Brits which will be evacuated includes the vulnerable citizens and those who were on short visits to Nigeria before the Federal Government ordered the closure of airports in the country.

A statement from the British High Commission in Abuja on Friday said the flights would take off on April 28, Abuja-London; May 1, Lagos-London and May 5, Lagos-London.

It stated, “The additional charter flights have been arranged for British travellers and their dependents, whose primary residence is the UK. Priority is given to the most vulnerable travellers, for example, people with health conditions.”

The UK government said it is working with the airline industry and host governments across the world to help bring back British travellers to the UK as part of the plan announced by the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on March 30.

It added that up to £75 million was made available for special charter flights to priority countries focused on helping the most vulnerable travellers.

The statement said charter flights have returned British travellers from India, the Philippines, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nepal, Ghana, Tunisia, Algeria and Peru.

Commenting on the evacuation, the Minister of State for Africa, James Duddridge, said, “Our next phase of UK Government charter flights will mean another 900 British travellers are able to return home from Nigeria. We appreciate this has been a difficult time and will continue to work closely with the Nigerian authorities to support those wishing to return to the UK.”

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, thanked everyone who worked to make the flights possible.

Punch