The Federal Government has evacuated a total of 4,984 Nigerians have so far been evacuated from Dubai, the Nigerian in Diaspora commission [NIDCOM] has said.
The agency said the evacuees were repatriated to Nigeria on 18 flights.
NewsCentral reports this was revealed by NIDCOM after it brought back 252 stranded Nigerians in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the country on Saturday.
NIDCOM, in a tweet from its official Twitter handle, said the evacuees arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Saturday via Emirates Airlines.
The flight departed Dubai at 10:20 am (7:20 am local time) and arrived Lagos at about 3 pm.
Of the 4,984 Nigerians evacuated, the UAE government paid for 517 Nigerians on 3 Fly Dubai flights and 380 Nigerians on Emirates Airline.
An additional 174 Nigerians are to leave Dubai on 25th August aboard Fly Dubai paid for by the UAE government, the tweet noted.
This, it said, will bring the total number of Nigerians evacuated gratis by Dubai authorities to 1,071.
The 252 evacuees have tested negative to the coronavirus before boarding and will proceed on 14-day self-isolation as mandated by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Ministry of Health, and the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19.