President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the sum of $8.5 million to facilitate the immediate evacuation of at least 5,000 Nigerians fleeing from the Russia-Ukraine war to Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Zubairu Dada, who briefed newsmen alongside the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, said the approval came following a joint memo presented by both ministries at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Dada disclosed that Air Peace and Max Air airlines have been contracted to provide three aircrafts and run as many shifts as possible to facilitate the evacuation of the fleeing nationals.
Dada named those to be evacuated from the crisis area to include 940 from Romania, 150 from Slovakia and 350 from Poland who have registered for evacuation.
Speaking on the amount approved, Dada said “The ministry of humanitarian affairs wrote a memo to the president seeking for funding to enable us conduct this exercise. The memo was in the tune of $8.5 million which Mr. President has graciously approved. That provision entails arrangement to evacuate not 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 include 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 gamut of activities that are involved.” (Guardian)