The Commission added that those registering for evacuation are ready to foot their flight expenses.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairperson, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), last week urged Nigerians residing abroad who are willing to return back to Nigeria to notify the Nigerian missions in their respective countries.
She noted that the financial implications of such evacuation will be borne by the respective individuals “who will be compulsorily quarantined when they return.”
In response to the directive, the Nigerian Consulate in New York, United States, on Sunday announced via a statement that it had begun compiling names of Nigerians willing to return home.
But, highlighting efforts to evacuate Nigerians, Mr Balogun said the stranded Nigerians agreed to foot their bills and be quarantined on arrival in Nigeria, PUNCH reported on Tuesday.
According to him, the commission had been receiving emails from other interested Nigerians overseas about the modalities for their evacuation.
“Nigerians are responding overwhelmingly from China, UK, US and also from West Africa. We can’t quote a figure because the registration is still ongoing,” Mr Balogun said.
“A lot of people have been sending emails to us. The response has been overwhelming. Some said they were ready to be quarantined on their return to the country;
“They are ready to pay for the evacuation. Some also have their air tickets but they could not come before the lockdown order was implemented,” Mr Balogun said.
The United States has so far evacuated 38,296 citizens from Nigeria, Ghana, Benin Republic, and 75 other countries on account of the coronavirus pandemic.
The citizens were airlifted in 330 flights coordinated by the US Department of State.
On the registration of Nigerians overseas, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, during a briefing by the Presidential Task force for the Control of COVID-19 on Monday, said the government would work out the evacuation logistics after the exercise.
He advised Nigerians abroad to stay where they were to avoid the risk of contracting the virus.
Mr Onyeama stated, “We have written letters to our embassies to give us an indication of the number in their countries and once we have that, we would be able to look at the issue of logistics and how to bring them back.
“We should also bear in mind that the medical people have said that it’s better to stay where you are if you can but you stand a much better chance of catching the virus if you are travelling up and down.”
COVID-19 is a deadly respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. It has infected over a million people globally and caused over 60,000 deaths.
