MINISTER of Foreign Affairs, Mr Olugbenga Ashiru, on Monday, said about 50 Nigerians had, so far, been evacuated from Syria, following the ongoing crises in the country.

Ashiru told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) 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, we advised them to move long before the situation deteriorated. Some have decided to stay behind, but it is their choice,” he said.

The minister also said the families of the Charge d’Affairs and officials at the embassy had been relocated to the neighbouring nation of Lebanon, adding that “they are very safe there.”

NAN 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.

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