wat a pitty ...u plpp u stand up again live goes on...wen there is live there is hope....

The first batch of distressed Nigerians who have been stranded in Tripoli over the political crisis in that country have been evacuated. They arrived at the Abuja International Airport safely by a charted Jumbo jet with landed at 1.30 am yesterday.

The Director General of National Emergency Management agency (NEMA), Muhammad Sani-Sidi who led the rescue team comprising agencies of government said the exercise would continue until all the approximately 2000 stranded Nigerians were brought back home.
He said the Federal Government had established a special camp to accommodate the returnees who would be discharged after necessary documentations and screening exercise.

Sani-Sidi said a vigorous screening of the passengers was carried out to identify passengers without valid traveling documents as well as those with bad records for safety and security on board after their arrival in Nigeria. He said the second flight had flown to Libya at 11am, on Sunday to bring back home the remaining passengers.

The representative of Minister of Foreign Affairs for the evacuation exercise, Mr. Timloh B. Nkom disclosed that the early difficulties that confronted the operation was the late diplomatic clearance for the airline. He said the problem of clearance had been resolved with the Libyan authorities and the remaining passengers in Tripoli would soon be returned back to Nigeria.

Among the evacuated citizens were elderly, women and children as well as few convicts handed over to the Nigerian Embassy in Tripoli. The rescue team for the operation included the officers from NEMA, foreign affairs officers, medical team, immigration officials and security personnel..


President Goodluck Jonathan had ordered the immediate evacuation of distressed Nigerians after the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja last Wednesday. Speaking through the Foreign Affairs Minister Odein Ajumogobia, President Goodluck Jonathan said he was moving to evacuate Nigerians from Libya because the government was committed to taking whatever measures were necessary to ensure the safety and security of its citizens.
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