It is expected to arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, around noon on Sunday.
Not less than 160 Nigerians stranded in the United States due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have made the first batch of nationals coming back to Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 160 Nigerians, including eight infants, made the first batch of evacuees.
They are returning aboard an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 aircraft under the special flight arrangements by the federal government for nationals stranded abroad.
According to NAN, the plane departed the Newark International Airport, New Jersey, on Saturday around 8:20 p.m. local time (1:20 a.m. in Nigeria on Sunday).
It is expected to arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, around noon on Sunday.
As a standard procedure, the evacuees will on arrival be quarantined for 14 days in Abuja before leaving for their respective destinations in the country.
Officials of the Nigerian consulate in New York, led by the Consul-General, Benaoyagha Okoyen were at the airport to coordinate the departure activities.