Hurricane Maria: Buhari orders evacuation of Nigerian students in Dominican Island

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate evacuation of Nigerian students stranded in Dominican Island following the devastating Hurricane Maria that wrecked the Island.

The Hurricane Maria, raged

through the Caribbean including parts of the Dominican Republic with heavy rain and high winds as it passed off its east coast on Thursday. It was ranked a Category 4 storm.

In a statement by the presidential spokesperson on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, he confirmed the President directive saying:

”President Buhari has ordered for immediate evacuation,’’ he simply affirmed.

“The President was deeply touched when he learnt that some of them escaped with nothing but the shirts on their backs. Following the directive, Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been on top of the situation. Nigerian missions in the region have been monitoring the situation. The ministry has assigned a senior official to travel for the purpose of issuing the stranded students, temporary travel permits,’’ he added.

”Using that, they will be moved to Brazil, where they don’t need visas for their onward evacuation to Nigeria.’’

The stranded Nigerian students are said to be medical students studying in Dominican Islands, with the hope of moving to the US and Europe for the completion of their medical degree programmes.