No fewer than 542 stranded Nigerians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday arrived in Abuja, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has announced.
The returnees landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja aboard Max Air chartered flight at 4:29 a.m.
According to NEMA, the returnees include 79 males, 460 females and three children.
Mr Manzo Ezekiel, the Head, Press Unit of the agency, said in a statement obtained by Persecondnews on Sunday that the returnees were screened by health officials, profiled by various relevant agencies and cleared by the Nigerian Immigration Service before being given a token to aid their transportation to their destinations by NEMA.
He added that the returnees included 79 males, 460 females and three infants.
Earlier, Mr Mustapha Ahmed, the Director-General of NEMA, who officially received the returnees on behalf of the Federal Government, advised them to learn from their experiences and be law abiding.
Ahmed, who was represented by the Director of Finance and Account of the agency, Mr Sani Jiba, disclosed that the government had approved the evacuation and provision of the token to support their movement back to their various homes.
The Consul General of Nigeria in Dubai, Amb. Atinuke Mohammed, who accompanied the returnees back to the country, appreciated the Federal Government for the special intervention towards the safe evacuation of the Nigerian nationals.
Other officials who received the returnees include NEMA, airport officials, security agencies, National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), NAPTIP, NIDCOM, NDLEA, Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigeria Custom Service, NCDC, and Port Health Services.
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