President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Chief Geoffrey Onyeama, and Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi
Sirika, to commence the process of repatriating Nigerians stranded in
Russia. Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on
Media and Publicity, confirmed this development in a statement in Abuja
on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the
affected Nigerians had travelled to Russia for the FIFA 2018 World Cup
but got stranded after the competition. The football fans got stranded
in the country following the activities of some unscrupulous travel
agents who cancelled their return tickets and abandoned them to their
fate. The presidential aide observed that already the Minister of
Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Aviation had in compliance with the
President’s directive taken the necessary actions to bring the Nigerians
back. According to Shehu, the Presidential directive is in line with
the policy of the current administration to ensure the welfare of all
Nigerians in every part of the world. It would be recalled that the
Buhari administration had on several occasions ensured the repatriation
of Nigerians from foreign countries like Libya and other conflict zones.
(NAN)