President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate evacuation of Nigerian students stranded in Dominican Island following the huge havok caused by Hurricane Maria on the Island.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed the Presidential order, and according to him, the president was touched by the conditions of the students.
Shehu said the president directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to swing into action and rescue the endangered citizens.
“The President was deeply touched when he learnt that some of them escaped with nothing but the shirts on their backs,” Shehu said.
He confirmed that the ministry assigned a senior official who travelled to the island to issue the stranded students with temporary travel certificates.
He also confirmed that the affected students have since been evacuated to safety.
According to him, the students will be moved to Brazil, where they don’t need visas for their onward evacuation to Nigeria.
Many Nigerian students are reportedly in Dominican Islands attending medical in preparation for onward movementioned completion of their medical degree programmes in the United States and Europe.
At least 10 people were reportedly killed as Hurricane Maria, ranked a Category 4 storm, raged through the Caribbean including parts of the Dominican Republic with heavy rain and high winds.
Hurricane Maria, with sustained winds of up to 155 miles per hour (250 km per hour), hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday, making it the strongest storm to hit the U.S. territory in nearly 90 years.
Onyinye Nwachukwu, Abuja
