50 NIGERIANS EVACUATED FROM SYRIA

Mr Olugbenga Ashiru, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, on Monday said about 50 Nigerians
had so far been evacuated from Syria following the
ongoing crises in the country.
Ashiru said in Abuja that the evacuees complied with
government's directive to leave Syria and he advised
others to vacate the Middle East nation.
"We have evacuated quite a lot of Nigerians from
Syria, it was not an airlift exercise like we did in the
case of Libya because they are very few.
"From the report I got, those moved so far are less
than 50, long before the situation deteriorated we
advised them to move.
"Some have decided to stay behind but it is their
choice.''
The minister also said that the families of the Charge
d'Affairs and officials at the embassy had been
relocated to the neighbouring nation of Lebanon "and
they are very safe there.''
It will be recalled that the Syrian conflict began on
March 15, 2011 with public demonstrations as part of
the wider Arab spring and developed into a
nationwide uprising.
Nigeria and Syria established diplomatic ties in 1961.













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