COVID-19: Nigerians in UK to pay N200,000 before evacuation – Commission

The Nigerian High Commission has stated that Nigerians waiting to be evacuated from the United Kingdom are to pay a sum of two hundred thousand naira for their flight tickets.

This was contained in the repatriation guidelines issued by the commission on Tuesday.

POLITICS NIGERIA earlier reported the decision of the Federal Government to evacuate about 4,000 Nigerians stranded abroad, starting from this week.

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, the evacuation will commence on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in the statement obtained by POLITICS NIGERIA, the High Commission announced that the Federal Government of Nigeria has concluded arrangements with the British Government to evacuate the first batch of 301 Nigerian nationals from London to Lagos. The repatriation flight is scheduled to depart London Heathrow for Lagos, Nigeria on Friday 8 May 2020.

It stated that upon arrival at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the returnees will be airlifted on a pre-arranged special flight to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and thereafter transported to an NCDC supervised quarantine facility for a mandatory period of fourteen days.

The commission, however, noted that priority will be given to the elderly persons with underlying health conditions, pregnant women non-resident visitors to the UK and students.

“The exercise will be conducted strictly based on the existing list of evacuation requests received by the High Commission,” the statement read.

Also, it was disclosed known that the prospective evacuees will be required to pay the sum of £425.00 (Four Hundred and Twenty-Five British Pounds) each for the cost of the flight. The amount, when converted to Naira, is N206,317.30.

The commission said further details of payment procedure will be communicated directly to the prospective evacuees via the email addresses provided in their evacuation request to the High Commission

It then advised that prospective evacuees should abide by the Nigerian Government repatriation guidelines.

Nevertheless, as part of the precautionary measures, returnees with a temperature higher than 38°c would not be allowed to board the flight;

“Visual observation of the passengers. Passengers with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 would not be allowed to board the flight.”

“Mandatory use of hand sanitizers before embarking on the aircraft: Passengers must have their face masks on before boarding the aircraft”

“All-female passengers must wear long sleeve tops and full-length trousers or ankle-length skirts or traditional attire of similar dimension.”

“All male passengers must wear long sleeve shirts and full-length trousers or traditional attires of similar dimension.” the statement read.