The Federal Government has explained why some countries are evacuating their nationals from Nigeria in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said the foreign nationals who had left took the decision to enable them to make use of a system that they are familiar with as the spread of the dreaded infection increase.
Onyeama said this while responding to questions at the Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19 held on Friday in Abuja.
The minister said the exit of the foreigners was an indictment on Nigeria’s health system or has anything to do with the state of the country’s health facility.
He added that the countries whose citizens have been evacuated still have diplomatic staff in Nigeria and have no intention of leaving.
“It is basically a case where people are more familiar with the health system in their various countries and so prefer to go to the various countries so in the event that they might have to be confined, they would be in more familiar surroundings and they would also have access to medical practitioners and facilities that they are used to,” Onyeama said.
“So, that is really the reason. And you will find that a large number of those countries evacuating citizens, that their heads of mission and ambassadors and other staff are still here in Nigeria and there are no plans of leaving.”
POLITICS NIGERIA understands that at least, 637 Europeans have been evacuated from Nigeria and Benin Republic on Thursday.
