CBN, NNPC to partly fund evacuation of Nigerians abroad

Nigeria’s Minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has disclosed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have agreed to partly fund the evacuation of Nigerians abroad.

Mr Onyeama who disclosed this on Monday at the Presidential Task Force Briefing on COVID-19 noted that the agreement also involves making funds available for the accommodation of the evacuees when they touch down in Nigeria.

The minister who had at a different briefing noted that the evacuation of Nigerians from Dubai, UK and New York, has been successful, however, stressed that Nigeria is reaching saturation with regards to the process of evacuating its citizens from across the world.

While revealing that over 600 evacuees are now in Lagos and Abuja, the Minister in is update session last Monday said the process is reaching a saturation point, adding that the ministry will now stagger the process a bit, as to allow some space before bringing more citizens into the country.

Mr Onyeama stated that there are still so many Nigerians outside still needing evacuation, assuring that more will be brought in when those on ground have been better sorted.

He admitted that a lot went wrong with logistics in the case of passengers who were transported to Abuja, but assured that better arrangement will be made to prevent any future recurrence.