9 Nigerians stopped from boarding evacuation flight

Nine Nigerians on Friday night were excluded from the second evacuation flight from the United States for flouting Government’s COVID-19 guidelines.

Among them is a family of five, according to Mr. Benaoyagha Okoyen, the Consul General of Nigeria in New York, who oversaw the evacuation activities.

Okoyen told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the airport that they were not allowed to check-in after five of them failed to present a negative coronavirus test result.

The negative COVID-19 test result is one of the requirements for evacuation under the Revised Quarantine Protocol of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

Okoyen explained that the remaining four presented their results but had to be dropped because they were on a family ticket with one defaulter.

He added that one of the unidentified defaulters did not undergo the COVID-19 test at all in spite of earlier instructions.

Meanwhile, 322 evacuees who fulfilled the requirements of an Ethiopian Airlines flight, departed the Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey, on Friday night.

They are expected to arrive at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Saturday afternoon.

This brings the total of evacuees from the US to 487.

The Consul General said those that missed Friday’s flight would be placed on the waiting list for subsequent ones.

He further advised intending evacuees to abide by the rules to avoid a repeat of Friday’s incident.

“We had to turn them back because this is a regulation, and I am using this opportunity to advise those in subsequent flights to obey the rules,” he added.