The government of United States of America (USA) is considering evacuating its citizens living in Nigeria back to the country because of covid-19. Indication towards this emerged Thursday on a wall post made through a verified Facebook account of the US embassy in Abuja.
Although, dates are yet to be fixed, according to the embassy, any US citizen in Nigeria who wants to be informed about emergency flights and other alerts should enrolI Smart Travellers Enrolment Programme (STEP).
STEP is a free service to allow US citizens travelling abroad to enroll with the local embassies or consulates.
Save for emergencies, Nigeria closed all international flights last week. Evacuation of citizen, however, falls under emergencies.
The first case of covid-19 in Nigeria was announced on February 27, 2020 but it has risen to 51 around mid-day on Thursday.
The virus has also killed two Nigerians.
Apart from the 51 confirmed cases, Minister of Information and culture, Lai Mohammed, said about 4,370 people, who could have had contacts with confirmed cases, were being traced across the country.
US’s confirmed cases Thursday was about 70 thousand, with at least 1,050 deaths.
Meanwhile, all US facilities in Nigeria have been closed to the public until further notice. The mission has also cancelled all its scheduled programs.
It will however consider hosting some necessary programs online, a statement on its website said.
The statement added that the closures were precautionary and not in response to any known or suspected coronavirus exposure at any of its facilities.Covid-19: US mulls evacuating citizens from Nigeria
