Foreign Affairs Minister Reveals Why Foreigners Are Being Evacuated

Over 637 Europeans were evacuated from Benin Republic and Nigeria on Thursday, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has stated the reason for the evacuation, citing the familiarity “with the health system in their various countries and so prefer to go to the various countries.”

Earlier, people had speculated as to what had occasioned the evacuation of foreign nationals from the country, wondering if there should be a reason for panic.

The statement was in response to a question posited by a jornalist at a press briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, on Friday.

The Journalist had asked if the evacuations were as a result of Nigeria’s poor healthcare system, to which the minister said it wasn’t necessarily due to that reason.

He said that many countries’ diplomatic personnel were in the country and did not have any plans to leave.

He stated, “It is basically a case where people are more familiar with the health system in their various countries and so prefer to go to the various countries so in the event that they might have to be confined, they would be in more familiar surroundings and they would also have access to medical practitioners and facilities that they are used to.

“So, that is really the reason. And you will find that a large number of those countries evacuating citizens, that their heads of mission and ambassadors and other staff are still here in Nigeria and there are no plans of leaving.”