Stranded Nigerians In Saudi Arabia Arrive Nigeria; Begin 14 Days Mandatory Quarantine

Posted by African Examiner African News, Featured, Latest Headlines, News Wednesday, May 20th, 2020

By Ganiyu Nasirudeen

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Over 200 stranded Nigerians in the Saudi Arabia Kingdom have just arrived the country.

The returnees arrived late Tuesday at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, confirmed this Wednesday morning via his Twitter handle.

The tweet confirmed: “We received 292 evacuees stranded in Saudi Arabia yesterday (Tuesday). The Saudi Government transported them to Abuja. A large number are nursing mothers and children and they are all comfortably settled in hotels under the mandatory 14 days quarantine’’.

In the meantime, Nigerians living in France, who may wish to fly to Cotonou in Benin Republic and then access the country via its land border, have been urged to do so.

The Foreign Affairs Minister gave the advice Tuesday evening during a briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in FCT Abuja.

However, Mr. Onyeama cautioned that the country would absorb evacuees based on the available resources for their 14-day mandatory quarantine exercise.

The Minister noted: “If they have already bought their tickets and have boarded or about to board the flight, when they get to Cotonou, we will as in the past liaise with our Charge d’Affaires and look at the capacity available to process them from Cotonou. But there’s certainly no guarantee that they would’ve immediate access to the country until such a time as they can be absorbed’’.