The European Union has announced evacuation flights for nationals of its 27 member States in Nigeria.
This is just as Nigeria’s cases of COVID-19 hit over 130 with two recorded deaths, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
Member States of the EU include Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Greece, Ireland, amongst others.
The Federal Government had restricted flights from some of these countries identified as high-risk COVID-19 places before finally shutting all international airports in the country.
But the Swedish Embassy in Nigeria on Monday disclosed that the EU would evacuate its citizens from Nigeria beginning Thursday, April 2.
The Embassy via its Twitter handle, @SwedeninNigeria, stated that evacuation flights are meant for all citizens in the Eurozone with underlying health conditions who wish to leave Nigeria amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
It tweeted, “To Swedish residents in Nigeria. Opportunity for EU citizens to be placed on a waiting list for flights from Lagos to Munich, April 2; Abuja to Vienna, April 3. Wishes are sent immediately to the embassy.abuja@gov.se. Note special medical conditions.”
Some countries including Israel, UK, US, amongst others have started evacuating their nationals on special flights permitted by the Nigerian government despite airport closures.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control as of 5pm on Tuesday, Mar 31, there are 777,798 cases of COVID-19 in Europe including 37,272 deaths.