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

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate evacuation of Nigerian students stranded in the Dominican Island following the recent category 4 Hurricane Maria that is miles off the East Coast, crawling north and churning up 40-foot waves near its center.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, who confirmed the presidential order, said that the president was touched by the conditions of the Nigerian medical students who were on an academic preparatory programme in Dominican Islands, after which they will move to the United States and Europe for the completion of their medical degree programmes.

Garba said that the directives have been handed down to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for necessary action and evacuation of the students.

The media aide also reported that the ministry had assigned a senior official to handle the situation, confirming that the official has been instructed to issue the stranded students with temporary travel certificates.

Shehu said: “Mr. President was deeply touched when he learnt that some of them escaped with nothing but the shirts on their backs.”

According to him, the students will be moved to Brazil, where they don’t need visas for their onward return to Nigeria.

At least 10 people have been reported dead as Hurricane Maria, ranked a Category 4 storm, raged through the Caribbean including parts of the Dominican Republic with heavy rain and high winds as it coursed through the east coast last week Thursday.

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.