The Nigerian evacuees who were stranded for weeks in India have expressed their gratitude to Air Peace for “rescuing” them and bringing them back home.
In a letter entitled, ‘Letter of appreciation’ and addressed to the chairman and chief executive of the airline, Mr. Allen Onyema and sent to the company through the Nigerian High Commission in India, the evacuees described their airlifting as a patriotic act.
The letter signed by the coordinators of the evacuees, Messrs Martin Osa Izevbokun and Aliyu Bello from Edo and Nasarawa states respectively, thanked the airline for offering to bring the Nigerians home at a very minimum cost and with offer of free tickets to about 20 of the Nigerians who went for medical treatment but could not afford to pay for their return tickets.
“We the undersigned Nigerians who are being evacuated home aboard Air Peace flight APK 7830 on the 12th of June, 2020, after being stranded in India by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown hereby write to thank you most sincerely for the unparalleled patriotism, patience and magnanimity, which you have displayed during the long and tedious process associated with the evacuation.
“You gave to our less privileged members who, without that support, would have been left behind in India.
“We are further impressed because you made those offers in spite of some unwarranted and unfortunate criticism, which was directed at you by few of our members for the delays, which were not your fault but which also caused you expenses that could have been avoided had they not occurred,” the evacuees wrote.
The evacuees also recalled that Air Peace had “come to the assistance of our fellow citizens in South Africa by evacuating them free of charge during the xenophobic attacks that took place there last year.
“We wish to thank our National Assembly which passed a resolution in support of giving our local carriers an opportunity to showcase their capabilities by evacuating our citizens who are stranded in different countries during this lockdown and we take immense pride in the fact that Air Peace has its stellar performance in that exercise, which vindicated the confidence that lay behind that resolution.”
