The Federal Government has suspended the further evacuation of Nigerians stranded abroad pending when a new protocol already designed for that purpose will start.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, announced this during at the task force press conference.

Onyeama said the new arrangement would require citizens returning from overseas to be tested before their flights back home.

The minister said,

“Now, there is going to be a change in that protocol and that is going to affect the timing of any further evacuation that we are going to undertake.

“So, anybody that is going to be evacuated will, first of all, undergo a test from the country they are leaving from, at least five days before travel and not later than nine days before travel.

“That would be a pre-condition for boarding a flight to Nigeria;  so a pre-flight test and if it’s positive, of course, they would not be able to get on the flight; if they are negative, they can get on the flight.”

Onyeama said after the tests abroad, those who tested positive would be required to stay back for treatment, noting that only individuals who returned negative would be allowed to board the flight.

According to him, the samples of the returnees would be taken on arrival in the country and their passports confiscated, adding that they would go on self-isolation in their homes.

The development is a departure from the previous arrangement where evacuees were quarantined in hotels for 14 days.

At least, 1,000 individuals evacuated from the United Kingdom, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and lately, Lebanon has been quarantined in hotels in Lagos and Abuja. Three returnees from the UAE returned positive.

Onyeama also disclosed that billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, and other private sector players had set up testing units which would take samples from passengers coming off the plane, adding that the results would be available within two days.

He said anyone who tested negative would still be required to spend more days to complete the 14-day isolation period after which they could collect their passports.

On the number of positive tests among returnees, Onyeama disclosed that only the three cases reported in respect of the UAE returnees in Lagos were positive.