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27 Stranded Nigerian Women Arrive Home From Lebanon
By Emmanuel Awosika
The Federal Government has evacuated a fresh batch of 27 Nigerian girls from Lebanon as part of continuing efforts to bring back Nigerians stranded in the Middle Eastern country.
Spokesman for the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ferdinand Nwonye, standing in for the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, was on hand to receive the girls when they landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja on Sunday.
After reports of the horrible situation facing Nigerians stranded in Lebanon went viral, many of them asked the Federal Government for a way back home.
Addressing the returnees, Nwonye said the evacuation was proof the the FG’s commitment to making sure no Nigerian is left stranded in Lebanon.
He revealed that the evacuation was carried out with the support of the Ministry of Aviation, Embassy of Nigeria in Beirut, the Lebanese Embassy in Nigeria and the Lebanese community in Nigeria.
“These are the individuals and institutions that made it possible for you to be here today,” he added.
The spokesman lamented the situation the evacuees had been experienced while in Lebanon, but said nothing would happen to them now that they were home.
Speaking to journalists afterwards, Nwonye confirmed that the Federal Government’s COVID-19 guidelines were followed during the evacuation.
He said the women tested negavite for COVID-19 before their arrival, but would still have to enter the mandatory 14-day isolation before they could return to their residences.
He indicated that officials had collected the returnees’ passports upon their arrival and would hand them back after the girls provide results of COVID-19 tests which they are to take after the self-isolation period.
