NINE infants are among the 314 Nigerians airlifted back home yesterday from the United Kingdom (UK).
They arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja aboard Air Peace at exactly 9.50pm.
One hundred and fifty seven of them were billed to disembark in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the rest expected to be flown to Lagos.
The flight, originally slated to depart the Heathrow Airport, London at about 10.30am was scheduled for arrival at about 5pm. But the six-hour scheduled flight did not take off until about 3pm as a result of delay in London.
Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, twitted at about 4pm yesterday via her verified handle @abikedabiri: “Yes. Several hours of delay, but the good thing is they are on their way home finally.
“Air Peace Flight P47801 is en route from London Heathrow Airport to Abuja and onward to Lagos.”
The evacuees are expected to proceed on 14-day self-isolation as mandated by the Nigerian authorities.
The latest evacuees bring to 2, 429, the number of stranded Nigerians that have been brought back since the global lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.