The President of the Nigerian Community in Lebanon, Mr. Roland Aigbovbiosa, has revealed that, so far, more than 70 Nigerians have registered for voluntary evacuation from the crisis-ridden country.
Efforts to evacuate Nigerians trapped in the Gulf State following the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah militants have suffered setbacks as many Nigerians refused to register for the evacuation. But in an interview on Saturday, Aigbovbiosa said there had been an increase in the number of Nigerians who had shown interest in being evacuated.
“Last week, the number was around 30. But since then, Nigerians have been coming almost every day, so we now have a little above 70.
“The issue we are facing now is knowing how soon the Federal Government will commence the evacuation.”
Aigbovbiosa however, called on the Nigerian government to expedite action and kick off the evacuation exercise immediately.
“Personally, I oppose the idea of waiting for the number to increase to either 400 or 500 before coming to evacuate the people, because even the life of a single person matters.
“I believe that whatever we have is enough for the evacuation to begin because the people who have indicated an interest in going back home are suffering.”
Also speaking on the development, the spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Manzo Ezekiel, said the agency and the coordinating Ministry of Foreign Affairs were already intensifying efforts on the evacuation plans.
Manzo noted that evacuation plans were to give a sense of national responsibility given the critical conditions of some Nigerians in the troubled country
“That is the whole sense of it. If it happens, fine. If it doesn’t happen, fine. At least, it shows that the government did not fold its arms while its citizens were in a crisis zone. All the preparations are still on the table. So that is just the idea,” he stated.