Twenty-seven beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme who completed a six-month training in automobile engineering at the Hyundai Automobile Centre in Koforidua, Eastern Region, Ghana, on April 2, have been evacuated to Nigeria amidst daunting challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on Wednesday aboard an Air Peace chartered flight at about 2pm and were received by officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Amnesty Office.

In line with the protocols put in place by the Presidential Task Force for management of the coronavirus, the 27 returnees were taken to a hotel at the highbrow Maitama district of Abuja, to be quarantined for 14 days.​

The visibly elated Amnesty beneficiaries who returned to the country after undergoing a comprehensive training in automobile assemblage, repairs and maintenance at the Hyundai Automobile Centre in Ghana, popularly known as the Hyundai Dream Centre, commended the National Security Adviser, Gen. Babagana Monguno retd, for authorizing their airlifting back to Nigeria.

Leader of the beneficiaries, Mr. Omieh Orlando, also thanked the chairman and members of the caretaker committee superintending over the Amnesty Programme for facilitating the smooth evacuation process, as well as President Muhammadu Buhari for the gesture and sustaining the Amnesty Programme in his determination to reposition the Niger Delta region.

Mr. Emmanuel Ifie, managing director, Esco & Jester Services Limited, the consultant for the training of the beneficiaries expressed joy over the evacuation exercise, which he said, was a huge success. “The Amnesty Programme caretaker committee has been remarkable; efficient in terms of the evacuation, which was timely. They consulted effectively and the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana was also helpful”.

MURPHY GANAGANA

Special Assistant (Media)

6th May, 2020