President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the sum of $8.5 million for the evacuation of Nigerians who have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries as a a result of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, made this known to State House correspondents at the end of the virtual Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting at the council chamber of the presidential villa, Abuja.
The meeting was presided by Vice President Yemi Osibanjo.
The minister stated that Air Peace and Max Air airlines have been contracted to provide three aircrafts for speedy evacuation evacuation of stranded Nigerians in the various countries.
Dada stated that those to be evacuated include 940 from Romania, 150 from Slovakia, and 350 from Poland.
“The ministry of humanitarian affairs wrote a memo to the president seeking funding to enable us to conduct this exercise. The memo was to the tune of $8.5 million which Mr. President has graciously approved. That provision entails arrangements to evacuate no less than 5,000 Nigerians.
“Whatever happens you can be rest assured we are going to run any number of shifts that it will involve. Don’t forget it will also involve taking care of those Nigerians that may decide not to come back. It also includes some assistance for the feeding that may have been done by the missions under whatever arrangements. Even the missions themselves are also in dire situations. So it’s a whole gambit of activities that are involved.”
Speaking on Nigerians who are trapped in Ukraine cities that have been overtaken by Russian troops, the minister said; “We want to believe the Russian armed forces will obey the rules of engagement. They know the rules about civilians that are caught up in situations such as this. We want to assume they will respect international laws and ensure that no harm comes to them.”
The minister further confirmed that the first batch of Nigerian evacuees are expected to arrive Nigeria tomorrow, Thursday, March 3, 2022.
