The federal government has started to evacuate Nigerians in Iran who want to leave. They are being escorted across the Armenian border to keep them safe as tensions rise in the Middle East.
Channels TV says that the evacuation comes after the crisis got worse on February 28, when the US and Israel worked together to attack Iran.
The attacks led to missile and drone strikes in other regions of the region, which made people worry that the crisis would spread.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), said this in a post on her X handle yesterday.
She stated that the Nigerian Embassy in Tehran is working to help Nigerians who want to leave the country and make sure they can safely go to Armenia.
Dabiri-Erewa also said that no Nigerians in Iran have been hurt by the current tensions and that embassy staff are still at the border to help anybody who are leaving.
Her message said, “Nigerian embassy officials in Iran are helping willing Nigerians cross the Armenian border safely.” The war hasn’t affected any Nigerians in Iran because officials are still at the border to help anyone who wants to leave.
The news comes as tensions in some parts of the Middle East continue to make people worry about the safety of foreigners living in those areas.
The NiDCOM head noted that the airspace is now insecure for repatriation planes, but he assured Nigerians in the Middle East that the federal government team is ready to help them leave.
“And as for flights home, the skies are not safe to fly right now. A flight from the UAE to Lagos came in two days earlier, right before another strike and the closing of the airspace.
“We’re ready to go as soon as the airspace opens,” said the multi-agency FG team on crisis and evacuation. She remarked, “We are praying for you and all of our people in the affected countries.”
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