Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has given Nigerian citizens living in that country with expired visas up till August 17 to pack up their belongings and leave otherwise they would be greeted with wrath of the law.
Following this development, the Nigerian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has implored Nigerians in UAE with expired visas to use the emergency evacuation flights organised by the Federal Government of Nigeria to depart the country on or before the August 17 ultimatum.
“The Embassy wishes to inform that the government of the United Arab Emirates has granted waivers on fines/penalties on visas that expired before 1st March 2020 to leave the country on or before 17th of August 2020.
“Consequently, the Embassy is urging fellow Nigerians living in the UAE to avail themselves of this opportunity to return home with the impending Air Peace evacuation flight scheduled for 1st August 2020, and or subsequent Emirates evacuation flights before the expiration of the grace period.
“Accordingly, affected Nigerian nationals who are willing to return home are kindly requested to submit their names and passport numbers to the Embassy and or the Consulate for onward transmission to the UAE authorities in order to obtain the necessary clearance,” said a statement by the Nigerian Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
By Idowu Sowunmi