155 out of 230 Nigerian football fans stranded in Russia after the 2018 FIFA World Cup arrived the country on Friday night.

The stranded football fans including a nursing mother in her mid thirties came through Ethiopian Airline flight number ET-ALP that arrived Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja at about 9.12 p.m on July 20.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, who was at the airport to monitor their arrival, lauded President Buhari’s effort to ensure their safe return.

He said that that the President directed that Nigerians, who were stranded in Russia after the 2018 World Cup tournament, should be evacuated immediately.

The minister explained that there was also an allegation that some airline travel agents cancelled return tickets of their customers without informing them.

One of the returnees, Bamidele Fatai was full of praises to President Buhari for making their journey possible. He also thanked the Nigerian Mission in Moscow for giving them necessary support.

Another returnee said he was swindled by an agent who cancelled his return ticket. He said he was in Moscow to support the Nigerian Football Team and to catch fun only to discover that his ticket had been cancelled when he was ready to return home.