The Federal Government will conclude evacuation of Nigerians from other country because of the Coronavirus pandemic on Saturday.
Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha stated this during Monday’s briefing by the Task Force in Abuja.
According to him, “we wish to state that all evacuation flights will end on 22nd August 2020 after which Airports will be given sufficient time to prepare for reopening.”
He also used the opportunity to thank countries, groups and individuals who have continued to support Nigeria in the fight against the Virus.
Said he, “Our partners have continued to provide support for our National Response. Over the week-end, the United Arab Emirates presented Nigeria with 7.5 tonnes of medical supplies and also facilitated the return of stranded Nigerians in their country. “The Nigerian government, wishes to express her appreciation to the government and good people of the United Arab Emirates and its people.
“The PTF similarly received additional PPEs from the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and Messrs Changzhou Sang Ma Education Foundation, a Chinese company. Particularly, we remember with deep sense of gratitude, the immeasurable role the late Mallam Samaila Isa Funtua played in facilitating the donation by the Chinese company. May his soul rest in peace.”
Mustapha urged Nigerians to continue to remain vigilante and observe all the regulations to stop the spread of the disease.
According to him, Nigeria has not reached such safety level to discard compliance with all the protocols.
As he put it, “it is important that I plead with Nigerians to remain focused on our individual and collective fight to win this fight against COVID-19 and not engage in distractive information dissemination.
“One of such is the viral trend on the social media about collection of sums of money for a COVID-119 negative results. For the benefit of all Nigerians and has been explained previously, by the DG, NCDC, samples are only collected at designated centres and not at the airports. It is, therefore, inconceivable that test results would be given at the airports where only passports of returnees are collected.
“It is disturbing to realise that while a good number of Nigerians are sharing their experiences with the coronavirus and encouraging others to take responsibility, some very few Nigerians are bent on spreading misleading information”, he lamented