Nigeria Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Monday agreed to fund the feeding and accommodation of evacuees in Lagos and Abuja.

The minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed this at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 daily news conference in Abuja.

Onyeama said the fund to cover the cost of evacuees’ feeding and accommodation was over N1 billion and since funding was not available, it had to pass the cost onto the evacuees.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some evacuees had protested the condition they were being subjected to at isolation centres, citing poor feeding and other ill treatments.

Onyeama stressed that several attempts made to proffer solution to the imbroglio failed until the Minister of Environment, Malam Mahmood Muhammed, came to the rescue.

The minister said that the amount involved was over N1 billion and the duo of CBN and NNPC promised to rescue the situation.

Onyeama said: “Today, the GMD of NNPC said he met with the CBN Governor and they both promised to fund the feeding of evacuees.

“I thank the Minister of Environment for the suggestion and the solidarity who sold the idea to me to approach CBN and NNPC to support Nigerians in desperate need.”