President Muhammadu Buhari has approved $8.5 million for the immediate evacuation of at least 5,000 Nigerians from Ukraine.
Zubairu Dada, minister of state for foreign affairs, said the approval was issued on Wednesday at the federal executive council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Dada said Air Peace and Max Air airlines have been contracted to provide three aircraft to facilitate the evacuation of Nigerians in the wake of the Russian invasion of the Eastern European country.
According to Dada, FG will also be evacuating 940 people 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,” Dada said.
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“The memo was in the tune of $8.5 million which Mr President has graciously approved. That provision entails arrangements to evacuate no less than 5,000 Nigerians.
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“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.”
Evacuation flights will begin with immediate effect.
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