All set for  second evacuation flight from US; Flight leaves Newark Airport Friday, July 3,2020 for Lagos

All is set for the second evacuation flight for Nigerians stranded in the United States of America, USA, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic which will depart Friday July 3, 2020 for the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The Ethiopian Airlines Flight No. ET509 is expected to take off from the Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey at 21.15 hrs and arrive Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos by 10.35 hrs on Saturday, July 4, 2020.

The Consulate General of Nigeria, New York, is coordinating the airlift on behalf of the Nigerian Missions in the United States of America.

The first evacuation flight from the US, also by an Ethiopean Airlines jet, equally took off from the Newark International Airport, New Jersey, with 160 passengers on board, including eight babies, but landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

On hand to bid the first batch of evacuees farewell were the President of the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, Professor (Ambassador) Muhammed Tijani-Bande (a Nigerian), the Consul General of Nigeria in New York, Hon. Ben Okoyen, Nigeria’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Samson Itegboje and  a powerful team of Nigerian medical personnel from the Association of Nigerian Physicians in America, ANPA, led by the President and the Vice President of the New Jersey chapter of the Association, Dr Nelson Aluya and Dr Iwuozo Obilo.

The Federal Government has facilitated the evacuation of Nigerians similarly stranded in other countries of the world as a result of the lockdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic..