The Nigerian Federal Government has suspended the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in foreign countries due to Coronavirus restrictions.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, the suspension is necessary to enable the government set new guidelines for the evacuation of Nigerians abroad.
One of the proposed changes is that Nigerians who test negative before being evacuated will not be taken into a 14 day compulsory isolation period as previously mandated.
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Consequently, evacuations will have to be suspended for now until the new rules are put in place sometime next week.
The new rules further suggest that intending evacuees will have to be tested no later than 9 days before their departure date while those who test positive before the date will not be evacuated.
The federal government has evacuated about 989 stranded Nigerians from foreign countries so far.