…‘Why we haven’t evacuated Nigerians abroad’
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, yesterday said the Federal Government had identified over 11 million poor Nigerians to benefit from the palliatives to cushion the harsh effects of the coronaviru pandemic.
Speaking in Abuja at the briefing by the presidential task force on COVID-19, she said the ministry had “11,045,537 individuals, 35 states, 453 local governments, 4,946 wards, 47,698 communities and 2,644,495 households on the national social register of poor and vulnerable households.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said though some countries had evacuated their nationals from Nigeria, the Federal Government was yet to evacuate Nigerians from other countries owing to diplomatic procedures.
He noted that evacuations had to be done within the framework of the embassies.
“As at now (Tuesday), that there have not been any requests from any of our embassies indicating any significant numbers of Nigerians to leave, and if we receive such notification, we would act accordingly,” he said.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the task force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said that the government would issue the restriction protocol and exemption guidelines of the lock-down in FCT, Lagos and Ogun States over the COVID-19 global pandemic.
“We’ve just begun the first day of restrictions in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja. We’re observing developments around the country as we receive reports. The PTF has however met with the security chiefs to smoothen the rough edges of implementation and within the first day of implementation and an appropriate restriction protocol and exemption guidelines will be issued.
“The coronavirus has not only attacked our health as people; it has also attacked our wealth as a nation,” he said.
