Overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of American citizens who turned up at Lagos airport wanting to be evacuated back to the US to escape growing Coronavirus infections in Nigeria, the US Mission here has introduced stringent conditions to qualify for evacuation.
Hundreds of US citizens turned up at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Friday hoping to be airlifted back following a promise to that effect by the US Consulate in Lagos.
But they were left disappointed as neither officials from the Consulate nor those of the airline were at the airport to facilitate their journey back home, leaving them stranded.
KaftanPost learnt that the bulk of those wishing to return were naturalized Americans of Nigerian descent, rather than Americans by birth that were being expected, thus throwing the evacuation plan into disarray.
And to separate the two groups of Americans, the Consulate has introduced new measures to reduce their numbers to a manageable level.
The new measures include the citizen must be registered with the American Embassy; must have evidence of tax payment for the last three years and; must be invited to come to the airport and in possession of a valid visa.
It could be recalled that the US Consulate in Lagos last week issued a travel advisory to American citizens in Nigeria promising flights for them back home, if they so wished, from Lagos and Abuja airports.
