Tripoli Evacuation Ends As Last Batch Of 1784 Arrive With Embassy Officials

SAN FRANCISCO, March 17, (THEWILL) – The evacuation of Nigerians in Tripoli Libya has ended with the arrival of the last batch of 1784 stranded evacuees alongside embassy officials on Wednesday night, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said.

The Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi said additional four flights were made from Monday to Wednesday bringing home a total of 1784 distressed Nigerians directly from Tripoli, the capital of Libya.

In all, over 4000 Nigerians were safely brought back to the country and transported to their respective states of origin.

While the last flight brought in only 194 passengers including Nigeria’s Embassy officials and their families, the first flight in the batch brought in 558 passengers, Second 496 and third 536 persons.

The Nigerian Charge De Affaires in Libya, Mr. Harun Umar, who accompanied the last batch said: “there are no more Nigerians at the Tripoli International Airport. The Nigerian mission in Libya has been temporarily closed. As top officials of the mission including Sheik K. Lemu, Tijjani Otman and Mrs. M. O. Abodunde have arrived.”

Meanwhile, a special team comprising officials from NEMA, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Commission for Refugees, Nigeria Immigration Services, Civil Defence Corps and relevant security agencies have been set up to receive other passengers that would be brought to the country by the International Organisation for Migrations (IOM) and United Nations Agency for Refugees who would continue to evacuate stranded citizens through Libya’s neighbouring countries like Egypt and Tunisia.

So far, international bodies have returned about 300 Nigerians through Lagos, Kano and Abuja International Airports.