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An otherwise enjoyable trip abroad has turned into a nightmare for many Nigerians who are now stranded in different parts of the world. The embattled migrants had travelled for various reasons before the coronavirus pandemic forced many countries, including Nigeria, to shut their airspaces.
A ray of hope appeared early last month when the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, announced that the country was making arrangements to evacuate them back to the country. Responding to questions about the citizens who are stranded abroad, the minister said the government had been working on evacuating them, dismissing claims that the government’s action was a response to letters written by the stranded citizens.
He said: “The #PTFCOVID19 (Presidential Task Force on CORVID-19) under the chairmanship of the SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, has actually been engaging with this since the closure of the international airports. So, the response was not as a result of letters coming in from Nigerians abroad as has been mentioned in some media houses.
“At the time of request, we did not have all our isolation centres and all the other logistical arrangements in place. So for that reason, we kept it in abeyance while we were putting all those things in place and now we have sufficient beds and so forth and protocol is now well established.
“We now feel much stronger and in a better position to undertake this herculean task of trying to see how we can bring Nigerians outside the country back into the country.”
More than four weeks after making the assuring statement, the stranded citizens are depressed that the country has not started the evacuation and has continued to give them conditions that are making the plan a mirage.
Evelyn Okoro, a stranded Nigerian in the UK, said in an emotion laden voice: “I have expended all the money on me. I and several others in my shoes cannot work to earn any income because we are here on visitors’ visa.
“Many of us can’t key into the evacuation plans because of the cost. By the arrangement, we are to spend about £500 for a one-way ticket despite having subsisting tickets. The airlines are not going to refund the money we have already paid for our return.
“My hubby and children are disturbed because of the rate the pandemic is spreading and killing people here. I am also disturbed and concerned about their wellbeing. Why all this for God’s sake?”
Aside from the money they are required to pay for their flights back home, Evelyn said they are also to pay about £350 for the mandatory COVID-19 test in private clinic.
She said: They recommended Mobihealth for us. If you add this to the cost of the flight, you will be spending between N350,000 and N400,000 just to come back. Many of us don’t have such money as we have expended everything we had, having over-stayed.
“To make matters worse, they said we would have to pay for where they would isolate us in a hotel for 14 days. Where on earth are we going to get the money from? Have they forgotten that we have families and loads of responsibilities to attend to? This is frustrating.
“We want to be with our families because it is better that way than being apart in this critical time.
“When all family members are together, our minds would be at peace. But when one is here and the other is there, there will be anxiety about what may be happening at the other end. The government should simply have a rethink and see how they can make the evacuation as convenient as possible for the citizens abroad.”
Worried about the dimension the evacuation is taking, Evelyn said: “The evacuation, as it is being arranged, is inconsiderate of our plight in this critical time. It is not evacuation in the right sense of it but a mere facilitation of our return home.
“The whole arrangement looks like something a private business person is making. It lacks every sign that it is being handled by the government.
“Most of us travelled to the UK on return ticket with specific date of return. Unfortunately, Coronavirus made it impossible for us to come back as airlines are not running international flights. Nigeria has even closed its airspace. So we are stranded.
“The window of hope we got was the grace to extend our visa till May 31. After that date, we are not sure of what will happen.”
A journalist with this medium, Muyiwa Lucas, who travelled to the UK on vacation, is in high dudgeon over the situation he has found himself in.
He said: “I came to London for a two-week vacation but the two weeks have turned into seven weeks. Today is my birthday but, unfortunately, I cannot celebrate with my family. COVID -19 has separated me from my family.
“Staying back for five weeks and still counting has drained me financially. It is a friend of over 40 years who has been taking care of my feeding and accommodation.”
He said the country’s announcement that it was going to shut its airspace was sudden and caught many of them unawares.
“They made the announcement on a Saturday that they were going to shut the airspace on Monday. I was at a shopping mall in the company of my friends when I heard the announcement.
“Realising the implication, I left a good part of what I had purchased and jumped out of the mall. I rushed home to pick my document and quickly called for my return to be immediately changed to Sunday but the agent told me there was no seat on the flight for Sunday.
“When that didn’t work, I quickly went online to search for an alternative. I got one but the cost was exorbitant. They demanded £1,222.60 just for my return.
“In the heat of that, my brother back in Nigeria went to pay for my return online without knowing that the airline had suspended operations. It was just last week that he had his money refunded.
“My visa will expire in 15 days’ time, and with the way things are going, I am not sure I will get out of here before the expiration. I have to apply to the home office here in the UK for an extension in the next two or so days.
“I thank the management of my organisation for the opportunity to work from home. I call Nigeria every day to get materials to write my stories. The cost is quite enormous.”
Reacting to the minister’s statement that they would pay for the place where they would be isolated, Lucas said: “Asking us to pay for where we will be isolated in hotels is rubbish. It is the height of insensitivity to the plight of the citizens.
“Some are quick to say that China did a similar thing, but that is not true. China did not do that to their citizens. They only did it to foreigners. If I have a place to stay when I return, why do you want to isolate me in a hotel where I will pay for 14 days?
“What the government needs to do is to know where we are isolating and monitor us until the 14-day period is over.”
Nigerians in India, Italy knock evacuation arrangements
Nigerians in India and Italy have also flayed the federal government’s evaluation plan.
The President of All India Nigerian Students and Community Association (AINSCA) New Delhi, Comrade Solomon Ikeri, said many Nigerians are willing to return home but the conditions stipulated by the government are discouraging them.
“If the government cannot provide free flight for our people, they should not bother to come. If they cannot provide a place where the evacuees would be isolated free of charge, they should not bother to come.
“There is no need for all that. The government should be able to help the citizens in critical periods like this.”
Ikeri hinted that the India government did not give Nigerians and other Africans any stimulus package, adding: “It has been through the assistance of the Nigerian Embassy headed by Major General Chris Eze (rtd) and my support that our people have been surviving. The hosts are discriminating against their own people not to talk about Africans.“No African has contracted the coronavirus as we speak. If just one person among us should have it, we are finished. About 36 people have contracted the virus in Tughlakhabad where more than 3,000 Nigerians reside but none of our people has it as I said earlier. In the whole of India, we have about 36,000 cases but none is African.”
The patron of the All India Nigerian Students and Community Association (AINSCA) Engr. James, while condemning the evacuation arrangement, described the challenge posed by the pandemic as massive.
“The conditions given by the government are not good for the beleaguered citizens. Many of the citizens planning to come home are drained financially. Many people have not earned a dime since this problem started because of the lockdown.
“One of our people died early Tuesday morning. His remains were rejected in all the mortuaries we took him to. They cremated his remains the way they did to some others who died earlier.
“We are grateful to the India Prime Minister for his efforts in containing the spread. We are also very grateful to the Nigerian Ambassador here, Major General Chris Eze (rtd) and the president of our association for their efforts in making sure that Nigerians don’t lack food.”
President of Ohaneze Youth Council, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, who is currently in India, berated the government for compounding the woes of the citizens living abroad.
“The federal government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NIDCOM as a matter of urgency should review the conditions given to Nigerians willing to come back home and save the citizens from dying like fowls and their remains burnt like bush meat by the India authorities. “The government’s position does not show any willingness to evacuate the citizens. They have been on this matter for the past four weeks and nothing tangible has been done; not even in China where the citizens are daily exposed to all manner of brutality and inhuman treatment. This is time for action and not talk show.
“The government is asking returning citizens to pay for where they will be isolated, but did they ask the Chinese doctors they imported into the country to pay for where they were isolated? It is unfortunate that they honour and respect foreigners more than they do for the citizens.”
Mobihealth, Nigerian embassy in Germany speak
Mobihealth International, one of the private clinics recommended by the Nigerian authorities to facilitate the Covid-19 test for Nigerians willing to return from the UK, said only 50 people have done the test in their facility.
“About 50 people have done their COVID19 tests through Mobihealth International,” the organization said in a reply to an email sent by our reporter.
Asked how many of the people tested positive, the organisation said: “Reports are sent to Public Health England by the laboratories. Please contact them. Some of those who tested positive have retested after completing seven days isolation and have reported that they are now negative.”
On the cost of the test, it said: “The test is free through the NHS, provided the individual meets the criteria. Tests can also be carried out through accredited private laboratories in the UK at a fee that varies between £249 and £400, depending on the providers and what service they are offering. This information is readily available over the internet for verification.
“Mobihealth is ONLY facilitating COVID 19 test in collaboration with a UK laboratory. Our fees is £350 for those who chose to use our service. An individual is free to choose their preferred laboratory or facilitator.”
Responding to our findings that the organisation once asked those who had paid to come for refund, Mobihealth, said: “Refund offer was only made before a test is done. No refund is due after an individual has done their test.
“The offer was made at the initial period when there was a misunderstanding where some people complained that they could get the test free with the NHS. Refund option was made available to those who did not want to proceed with having their test done through Mobihealth (at that time less than 10 people had paid).
“It turned out that most of those who paid then still wanted to proceed and pleaded for Mobihealth to proceed with facilitating the test on their behalf which we have since done.
Refund was only offered to those who might not want to proceed at the time but NO refund is due after the test has been booked and done.
“Many people have paid afterwards and we have facilitated the COVID-19 test for more than 50 people. Some others are still requesting for test through us because according to them they were very satisfied with our service and the support we have given them at this difficult time.”
Nigeria’s envoy in Germany, Peter Lambat, told The Nation via Whatsapp chat that only 15 people have registered to return home from the European country.
“As at last week, we had 15 prospective evacuees. However, I can’t confirm same as of right now,” he said.
Source:The Nation
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