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COVID-19: UK pledges £75 million to bring stranded UK citizens back home
The UK Government has pledged up to £75 million to bring its stranded citizens around the world back home amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease.
This was revealed in a video released on Monday by the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, who said that citizens on short-term visits outside the UK and those with underlying health conditions are top priority.
Laing also said that the mission understood that the airports in the country are closed to international flights but it is working intensively at evacuation flights for its citizens in Nigeria.
She said, “I fully understand the anxiety that COVID-19 is causing UK citizens here in Nigeria. It is my top priority to support British citizens here.
“We fully understand that travelling back to the UK is not feasible now for our citizens. That is because the government of Nigeria, in its own response to contain COVID-19, closed Abuja and Lagos airports to international flights from the 23rd of March for one month.
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“The government of Nigeria has, however, made exemptions for humanitarians and for evacuation flights. We are working intensively to look at those options for evacuation flights.
“Our top priority at the moment is those who are normally resident in the UK but are here, temporarily visiting Nigeria. Our second top priority is those with underlying health conditions and other vulnerabilities.
“We have not of course forgotten those who are resident in Nigeria and we will be returning shortly with further advice but for now, our top priority is those who are visiting temporarily and those with underlying health conditions,” she added.
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