The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, on Monday said over 600 evacuees from different countries are already at various isolation centres in Lagos and Abuja.
Speaking at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 press briefing in Abuja, the Minister said the isolation centres designated for evacuees in Lagos and Abuja were already saturated with the 600 evacuees.
According to him, the centres had already reached saturation point and would not be able to take more.
He said: “The number we are able to care for are limited, this means we are going to be staggering flights before bringing others back to the country.
“Many Nigerians willing to come home are still in China, India, Sudan, Lebanon, Egypt among others; this calls to question our capacity to absorb all of them and also ensure we deliver optimally,” he said.
The minister stated that the flight that brought the first and second batch returnees to the country from United Arabs Emirate was already on its way to Nigeria and that the United States of America flight was a private sector driven initiative.
He however, said that subsequently, the PTF would henceforth use Nigeria carrier to airlift the returnees to reduce unnecessary burden over the fate of Nigerians abroad.
He said at the moment, the PTF had evacuated Nigerians abroad from Dubai, London and New York, while expressing gratitude to those who worked hard to deliver quick result in bringing the returnees back.
He again apologised over delay in bringing those that landed in Lagos back to Abuja, adding that a number of things went the way the PTF did not envisagednan.
