FG Reveals Why Foreigners Are Leaving Nigeria Over Coronavirus

The Federal Government through the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, says there is no hidden agenda behind some countries evacuating their citizens from Nigeria.

Naija News reports that no fewer than 637 Europeans were evacuated from Nigeria and Benin Republic on Thursday, April 2 over the outbreak of coronavirus, a move which left many wondering if there is a cause for alarm.

However, during the press briefing of the presidential task force on coronavirus (COVID-19) in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Friday, a journalist asked the minister if leaving the country was an indictment on Nigeria’s health system, to which the minister responded that it’s not necessarily so.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said those who had left did so to enable them to make use of a system that they are familiar with, should the need arise, adding that the diplomatic staff of most of the countries are still in Nigeria and that they have no plans of leaving.

According to him; “It is basically a case where people are more familiar with the health system in their various countries and so prefer to go to the various countries so, in the event that they might have to be confined, they would be in more familiar surroundings and they would also have access to medical practitioners and facilities that they are used to,” Onyeama said.

“So, that is really the reason. And you will find that a large number of those countries evacuating citizens, that their heads of mission and ambassadors and other staff are still here in Nigeria and there are no plans of leaving.”