US evacuates 38,296 Americans from Nigeria, 77 other countries

The United States has so far evacuated 38,296 citizens from Nigeria, Ghana, Benin Republic, and 75 other countries on account of the coronavirus pandemic.

The citizens were airlifted in 330 flights coordinated by the US Department of State.

The emergency evacuation commenced on January 29, 2020, according to the coronavirus repatriation statistics published on www.state.gov, updated on Friday.

This is happening as Nigeria directed its foreign missions to compile a list of stranded Nigerian nationals who wished to come back home.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “the financial implications will be borne by the prospective evacuees, who will be compulsorily quarantined when they return.”

The repatriation report said the US government had evacuated 369 citizens in three flights from Nigeria while 1,070 US nationals were evacuated from Ghana in five flights and 825 from Senegal in four flights.

The US had also airlifted 109 Americans from Burkina Faso; 524 from Cameroon; 866 from China; 400 from Cyprus; 2,770 in 23 flights from Ecuador; 1,686 in 29 flights from the Dominican Republic; 2,406 in 15 flights from El Salvador and 3,014 in 18 flights from Guatemala.

The report said, “The Department of State is rising to meet the historic challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, every day, all over the world. The US Government has no higher priority than the protection of American citizens.

“The Department of State has coordinated the repatriation of 38,296 Americans from 78 countries since January 29, 2020. On April 2, approximately 140 US citizens and residents were repatriated from Colombia.”

Meanwhile, no fewer than 188 Europeans were evacuated from Nigeria on Friday through the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

The flight was operated by a Boeing 777 aircraft owned by Austrian Airlines, a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group.

Amongst those on the flight were Germans and Austrians.