The Nigerians girls crying for help to return home in a video that went viral recently have been evacuated from Lebanon.
Their arrival was announced on Sunday via the verified Twitter handle of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).
According to NIDCOM, a total of 68 Nigerian girls stranded in Lebanon were brought back home aboard a Middle East Airline plane.
The plane conveying the evacuees arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja at about 15:30pm.
BREAKING NEWS
EVACUATION UPDATE
Another 68 Stranded Nigeria Girls in Lebanon arrive Nnamdi Azikiwe Int’l Airport Abuja today 16th August 2020 at about 1530HRS via Middle East Airline.
Recall the viral video where some girls cried out to @NigeriaGov to facilitate their return. pic.twitter.com/RheTdrg1UI
— Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (@nidcom_gov) August 16, 2020
No Place Like Home
NIDCOM noted that the returnees would proceed on self-isolation for 14 days, as part of the guideline of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
It thanked the Nigerian Mission in Lebanon, the Lebanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Houssam Diab, and the Lebanese community in Nigeria for making the evacuation possible.
The agency added that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Nigeria were responsible for the logistics.
In her reaction, NIDCOM Chairman, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, welcomed the evacuated girls, saying there was no place like home.
BREAKING NEWS
EVACUATION UPDATE
Another 68 Stranded Nigeria Girls in Lebanon arrive Nnamdi Azikiwe Int’l Airport Abuja today 16th August 2020 at about 1530HRS via Middle East Airline.
Recall the viral video where some girls cried out to @NigeriaGov to facilitate their return. pic.twitter.com/RheTdrg1UI
— Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (@nidcom_gov) August 16, 2020
Meanwhile, Channels Television gathered that the flight left Lebanon at about 11am (Lebanese time) and landed in Abuja hours later.
The 68 girls were said to be among over 200 passengers, including other Nigerians and Lebanese nationals onboard the place.
One of the Nigerian passengers told Channels Television that they were all tested three days before the flight while the ladies were separated from the rest of the flight on arrival.
Their arrival came three days after 94 other Nigerian ladies stranded in Lebanon were brought back to the country.