PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has approved $8.5 million for the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Ukraine.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zubairu Dada disclosed this while briefing newsmen at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday.
The amount, to be released to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, would fund the evacuation of at least five thousand Nigerians stranded due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
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Dada disclosed that Air Peace and Max Air airlines had been contracted to provide three aircraft and run as many shifts as possible to facilitate the evacuation.
Nigerians have continued to flee Ukraine after Russia invaded the country last week.
According to the United Nations, more than 500,000 people have fled Ukraine while about three million others require humanitarian aid.
Many Nigerian students in Ukraine have called for the Federal Government’s intervention.
The Nigerian embassy in Ukraine initially asked citizens to take responsibility for their own security.
On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 130 Nigerians fleeing from Ukraine have been received by the Nigerian embassy in Romania.
In a statement, the ministry said it has provided accommodation for the stranded Nigerians while arrangements were being made to take them back home.
The ministry noted that officials at Budapest, Hungary, also received and accommodated 74 Nigerians, who were being documented for subsequent travel arrangements back to Nigeria.
In the same vein, Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, had, during a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila on Monday, said the evacuation would commence today (Wednesday).
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