The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Zubairu Dada, made this known while speaking with the State House Correspondents shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Minister, who spoke alongside the Minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, Sadiya Farouk, said the approval followed a joint memo presented by both ministries at the Council meeting.

According to him, the Federal Government has contracted Air Peace and Max Air airlines to avail three aircraft to facilitate the evacuation.

Dada said that Air Peace and Max Air airlines have been contracted to provide three aircraft and run as many shifts as possible to facilitate the evacuation, adding that those to be evacuated include 940 from Romania, 150 from Slovakia, and 350 from Poland who has registered for evacuation.

On the amount approved, Dada explained that “The ministry of humanitarian affairs wrote a memo to the president seeking funding to enable us to conduct this exercise. The memo was to the tune of $8.5m which Mr. President has graciously approved. That provision entails an arrangement to evacuate no less than 5,000 Nigerians.

“It also includes some assistance for the feeding that may have been done by the missions under whatever arrangements. Even the missions themselves are also in dire situations.”

Asked if the amount will be released immediately for the exercise, the Minister said: “That is why the evacuation flights will begin today (Wednesday).”

The National Population Commission made this known in a statement.

It read in part, “The Revised National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council on 9th June 2021, is a comprehensive document that addresses all population and development concerns with an overarching goal to improve the quality of life and standard of living of the people of Nigeria. The main thrust of the policy is to reduce the population growth rate and accelerate demographic transition for the realization of the Demographic dividend. It is a strategic tool guiding the implementation of national development plans. The implementation of the policy is premised on an institutional framework that is clearly defined in the policy with the NCPM as the apex organ. The Council is chaired by the President with the Vice President as the Deputy Chairman. Heads of relevant government Ministries, Agencies and Departments will serve as members of the Council. The National Population Commission is the coordinating agency of the National Population Policy charged with the responsibility of ensuring collaboration and synergy across sectoral lines and monitoring the implementation of the population policy. Principal Officers of the National Assembly, Ministers and Heads of MDAs, prominent Traditional Rulers, Ambassadors, Captains of Industries and Representatives of development agencies are expected to grace the event.”

Mohammed’s comments came after Twitter deleted a controversial tweet by President  Muhammad Buhari with a threat to deal with ‘those’ who have not learned from civil war history.

The Minister, while reacting to this during a  briefing to State House reporters at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday in Abuja, accused Twitter of ignoring inciting tweets by the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, and others, adding that Nigeria would not be fooled.

“We have a country to rule and we will do so to the best of our ability. Twitter’s mission in Nigeria is very suspect, they have an agenda.

“The mission of Twitter in Nigeria is very suspicious. Has Twitter deleted the violent tweets that Nnamdi Kanu has been sending? Has it? The same Twitter during the ENDSARS protests that were funding ENDSARS protesters, it was the first to close the account of the former president of the US, Trump.

“And you see when people were burning police stations and killing policemen in Nigeria during ENDSARS, for Twitter, it was about the right to protest. But when a similar thing happened on the Capitol, it became insurrection,” he said.

InsideOjodu had also reported that Twitter deleted Buhari’s tweet for allegedly violating its rules.

But, Mohammed questioned what rule of Twitter President Buhari violated to warrant his tweet to be deleted, wondering why previous tweets on #EndSARS protests were taken out.

The Minister added, “Twitter may have its own rules, it’s not the universal rule. If Mr. President, anywhere in the world feels very bad and concern about a situation, he is free to express such views. Now, we should stop comparing apples with oranges.

“If an organisation is proscribed, it is different from any other which is not proscribed. Two,  any organisation that gives directives to its members, to attack police stations, to kill policemen, to attack correctional centers, to kill warders, and you are now saying that Mr. President does not have the right to express his dismay and anger about that?

“We are the ones guilty of double standards. I don’t see anywhere in the world where an organisation, a person will stay somewhere outside Nigeria and will direct his members to attack the symbols of authority, the police, the military, especially when that organisation has been proscribed.  By whatever name, you can’t justify giving orders to kill policemen or to kill anybody you do not agree with.”

The social media giant said Buhari’s tweet was deleted for allegedly violating twitter rules.

A comment by Twitter stated, “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules”.

The tweet, which was posted on Tuesday, read in part, “Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”

The president’s tweet was in reaction to widespread attacks on public facilities by unknown arsonists in the South East region.

The tweet however sparked outrage on Tuesday evening with many social media users describing it as ‘genocidal’ and a direct threat to people of the South-East region of Nigeria.

Following several complaints, Twitter eventually bowed to pressure, deleting the tweet.