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**About 200 Nigerians Have Requested Evacuation From U.S.—Onyeama
Tayo Olanipekun
The U.S. Mission in Nigeria has helped 997 Americans return home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The evacuation took place between April 4 to 8 aboard Delta Air Lines and Ethiopian Airlines, even as the death toll from the dreaded Coronavirus in the U.S. is almost 15,000 as at press time.
A total of 850 American citizens were airlifted from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos with an additional 147 U.S. earlier moved from Abuja, according to a statement from the U.S. Consulate in Lagos on Thursday.
This is as Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said about 200 Nigerians living in the United States have indicated their interests in returning home.
Onyeama made this known in Abuja on Wednesday during the briefing of a Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
The Minister said the delay in the evacuation of Nigerians was because the federal government was making “a headway roadmap on the logistics involved since the airports have been closed.”
The U.S noted that the repatriation of its citizens was made possible by “a tremendous effort by the U.S. Consulate team and great cooperation from Nigerian partners,” namely the Ministry of Aviation, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, the Nigeria Immigration Service, and the Lagos State Government.
It added that as of April 8, 2020, the country’s Department of State has coordinated the repatriation of 50,339 Americans from 94 countries since January 29, 2020.
“This has been three weeks in the making. We had more than 50 people working on this on a daily basis to make sure that we can find the Americans, get the planes, secure flight clearances for the planes to land here and also ensure safe passage of the Americans traveling to the airport since the city is on lockdown. It was an enormous effort and I am incredibly proud of my team. We appreciate all the help from our Nigerian partners. We couldn’t have done this without them,” Consul General, Claire Pierangelo said.
The United States is providing nearly $274 million to help dozens of countries to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), furthering America’s commitment to humanitarian assistance and global health.
