The Nigerian authorities received another batch of 424 stranded Nigerians from Saudi Arabia on Friday, a day after 384 others were brought back from the same country.
The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said that the returnees arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja onboard Saudi Arabia Airline SV-3413 at about 12pm.
She explained that the returnees will proceed on the mandatory 14 days quarantine and appealed to Nigerians to desist from illegal migration.
According to local media reports on Friday, the returnees from Saudi Arabia on Thursday comprised 300 males, 83 females and one infant and that they were received by a representative of Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Hajj Terminal of the Abuja Airport where he charged them not to despair.
He, however, said the Nigerian government would never support illegal migration and stated that the returnees would be quarantined at the Federal Capital Territory Hajj camp for 14 days in line with the reversed COVID-19 protocols by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
The reports added that the evacuation of the stranded Nigerians followed a viral video in which they called on the Nigerian government to evacuate them after being stranded for more than seven months in Saudi Arabia.
GIK/APA