The Federal Government on Wednesday commenced the evacuation of 2,100 stranded Nigerians who fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries, following the conflict between the country and Russia.

Amb. Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed this in a statement in Abuja.

Aduda stated that the stranded Nigerians would be evacuated from Romania, Poland and Hungary, via Max Air and Air Peace flights.

He said: “Furtherance to our efforts to evacuate Nigerians from neighbouring countries surrounding Ukraine, we can confirm that chattered flights will depart on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, to pick up Nigerian evacuees home.

“So far, we have the following records of evacuees received by the Nigerian embassies at Hungary: 650 persons; Poland: 350 persons; Romania: 940 persons and Slovakia: 150 persons.

“The capacity and routes of the airlines are as follow: Max Air to Romania, 560 persons; Air Peace to Poland, 365 persons and Air Peace to Hungary 360 persons.

“The first batch of evacuees are expected to arrive Nigeria on Thursday, March 3, 2022.

“Once again, we assure Nigerians that we are working round the clock to see that our citizens are brought back home safely.”

The permanent secretary further gave the following numbers; +2349160847498, +2347010882907, as consular helplines in case of any emergencies or inquiries.

The Star