Abuja – The Nigerian government has postponed the arrival of the first batch of Nigerian evacuees expected from Ukraine on Thursday.
According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, Bolaji Akinremi, the flight was postponed due to a delay in preparing passengers for the check-in process.
The Air Peace charter flight will now arrive in Nigeria on Friday morning.
This means Nigerian citizens in Ukraine en route Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia will no longer arrive in the country on Thursday.
Recall that on Wednesday, Nigeria’s foreign affairs ministry announced that it expects to receive the first batch of evacuees from Ukraine on Thursday.
This was announced through a press statement by Gabriel Aduda, the ministry’s permanent secretary.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s major airlines, Max Air and Air Peace concluded arrangements to conduct the evacuation flights of Nigerians from Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.
The two airlines had been contracted by the Federal Government to carry out the evacuation process.
Stranded Nigerians including hundreds of students studying in Ukraine are currently taking shelter in neighbouring countries in the wake of the outbreak of the Russia-Ukrainian war.