Nigeria played an important role in the evacuation of infants from Gaza to hospitals in Jordan, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, revealed this on Thursday during the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing Series in Abuja.
Tuggar explained that Nigeria stepped in after receiving a request from the Red Cross, which sought help in relocating infants in critical condition. The situation required urgent intervention as many of the babies were suffering from severe medical issues.
He noted that Nigeria carefully considered the risks before making a decision. The government realized that transporting fragile infants directly to Nigeria would be risky due to the long distance and the country’s own healthcare challenges.
“The Red Cross reached out to us, asking if Nigeria would be willing to take in some of the infants from Gaza because they were looking for countries that had expressed concern over the dire humanitarian situation.
“Our response was that we cannot take the risk of flying such fragile infants, some born with heart conditions, all the way from the Middle East to Nigeria. If something happens, people will question why we took such a risk when we have our own healthcare challenges here,” he stated.
Rather than bringing the children to Nigeria, the government decided to use diplomatic channels to ensure their safety. Tuggar noted that Nigerian officials engaged with the governments of Jordan, Egypt, and the UAE, urging them to accept the infants and provide them with medical care.
“We used our good offices and diplomatic connections to reach out to the Foreign Ministers of these countries and impress upon them the need to accept and provide medical care for the infants. And alhamdulillah, it succeeded,” Tuggar added.
