By Ebi Kesiena
The first batch of Nigerian evacuees from Ukraine is expected to arrive in Nigeria on Thursday.
This was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda.
According to the statement, chattered flights will begin picking up Nigerian evacuees back home from the neighbouring countries surrounding Ukraine on Wednesday.
The Federal Government has contracted Air Peace and Max Air airlines to avail three aircraft to facilitate the evacuation.
“So far, we have the following records of evacuees received by Nigerian embassies at: Hungary (650 persons), Poland (350 persons), Romania (940 persons) and Slovakia (150 persons),” the statement read in part.
“The capacity and route of the airlines are as follows: Max Air to Romania 560 persons, Air Peace to Poland, 364 persons and Air Peace to Hungary 360 persons”.
Aduda assured Nigerians that the government is working round the clock to see that citizens are brought back home safely.
Recall that, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved $8.5m dollars to the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Humanitarian, Disaster Management, and Social Development, towards the evacuation of over 5,000 (registered and unregistered) Nigerians stranded in Ukraine.
