Emirates Airlines has cancelled a flight that should have evacuated 230 Nigerians from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Nigeria, leaving them stranded.
Flight EK0783 from Dubai (1020) to Lagos by 1500 on April 26, 2020, was said to have been cancelled on Friday after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs failed to get flight clearance from UAE authorities.
The stranded passengers were said to have berated the ministry for failing to make proper arrangements despite having three weeks for preparation, wondering why it allowed them to book the flight which cost N242,000 per head.
However, the ministry reportedly placed the blame on the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 which it said failed in perfecting arrangements, including flight clearance, to repatriate the affected Nigerians, The Nation reported.
The paper further reported that the 230 Nigerians paid for their flight tickets following assurances from the Nigerian Ambassador to UAE, Mallam Mohammed Dansanta Rimi.
Rimi on his part was said to have opened a line of communication with the ministry on the list of Nigerians willing to return home.
An initial positive response from the ministry convinced them to purchase their tickets.
The Herald gathered that many of the 230 Nigerians have been left stranded after the flight cancellation as many of them said they used up their savings to purchase their ticket.
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