The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has welcomed 542 stranded Nigerians from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Head of the NEMA Press Unit, Manzo Ezekiel, confirmed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
According to him, the returnees arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on board the Max Air chartered flight at 4:29 a.m.
He stated that the returnees included 79 males, 460 females and three infants.
He also stressed that the returnees were screened by health officials, profiled by various relevant agencies, and cleared by the Nigerian Immigration Service before being given a token by NEMA to aid their transportation to their destinations.
Earlier, the Director-General of NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed, who officially welcome and received the returnees on behalf of the federal government, charged them to learn from their experiences and be law-abiding citizens.
Mr Ahmed, represented by the agency’s Director of Finance and Account, Sani Jiba, said that the federal government had approved the evacuation and provided the token to support their movement back to their various homes.
The Consul General of Nigeria in Dubai, Atinuke Mohammed, who was with the returnees to the country, thanked the federal government for its special intervention in the safe evacuation of the citizens.
Meanwhile, the returnees were received by officials of NEMA, airport officials, security agencies, the National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), NAPTIP, NIDCOM, NDLEA, Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigerian Customs Service, NCDC, Port Health Services, among others.
REPORTERS AT LARGE earlier reported that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) immigration authorities have announced a visa ban on Nigerians, adding that all submitted applications are rejected and fees non-refundable.
It was gathered that the announcement was made on Friday in a notice issued to its trade partners in Nigeria, including travel agencies.
