As Nigerians continue their call for repatriation in foreign countries, the Nigeria High Commission in Canada says it is set to evacuate Nigerians stranded in that country due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
In a statement issued on Monday, the mission said it had received no fewer than 200 requests for evacuation.
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The mission stated that a Boeing 777 aircraft operated by Air Peace had been arranged to fly the intending returnees home on Thursday, May 14.
Also, the high commission revealed the flight be the only special evacuation flight for Nigerian nationals stranded in Canada due to the pandemic.
The plane, it said, would pick the prospective passengers from two locations in Canada, namely Toronto and Alberta.
The aircraft is expected to pick the first set from the Pearson International Airport, Toronto, according to the flight schedule.
From there, however, it will fly to the Calgary International Airport, Alberta; a distance of 2,915 k.m., to pick the second set of passengers.
The aircraft, according to reports, will depart Alberta for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, where the evacuees would be moved into isolation for 14 days.
The one-way flight will cost each prospective evacuee between 1,130 dollars (N452, 000) and 2,000 dollars (N800,000) depending on the class.
In the meantime, the special evacuation exercise began last Wednesday with the return of 265 Nigerians from the United Arab Emirates.
On Friday, 253 were brought back from the United Kingdom, followed by 160 from the United States on Sunday.
This brings to 678 the total number of Nigerians evacuated by the Federal Government so far.
The returnees, following earlier reports, are Nigerians who got stranded in foreign countries and could not return home following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China, and its spread to other countries of the world.
