The United Kingdom government is to evacuate more nationals from Lagos tomorrow and next Tuesday.
The batch follows this Tuesday’s evacuation of 185 Britons from Nigeria via the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.
The British High Commission disclosed that no fewer than 1,100 nationals had been repatriated since the international gateways were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It said a team would be on hand at both Lagos and Abuja airports to support the British citizens.
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, would join the facilitation team at the Abuja facility to support the returning nationals while the Deputy British High Commissioner, Harriet Thompson, would lend supporting hands to the other team in Lagos.
The latest evacuation came after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Wednesday confirmed 196 new coronavirus cases in the country and also a total of seven deaths in the last 24 hours. Lagos and Kano states have the highest numbers. While Lagos recorded 87 new cases, Kano State recorded 24 new cases. The spread of the virus further intensified in Gombe state as the state recorded 18 new cases while Kaduna State, which is currently on a 30-day lockdown, recorded 17 new cases.
Abuja confirmed 16 new cases while Katsina recorded 10 new cases. Sokoto State recorded eight new cases while Edo State confirmed seven new cases and Borno got six new cases. Yobe, Adamawa and Ebonyi recorded one new case each. “As at 11:55pm 29th April- 1728 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria,” NCDC tweeted. While 307 have been discharged nationwide, about 51 have lost their lives.
Meanwhile, Nigeria will begin a “phased and gradual” easing of more than four weeks of lockdowns in Abuja and Lagos on May 4, President Muhammadu Buhari said in an address on Monday. Lagos and Ogun states and the federal capital territory of Abuja entered lockdowns to tame the spread of the new coronavirus on March 30. The federal government will also enforce a ban on non-essential movement between Nigeria’s 36 states, a measure the governors’ forum had requested.
