President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday evening touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja after an eight-day Saudi Arabia.
While in Saudi Arabia, Buhari also took the time to perform the Umrah, also known as the Lesser Hajj, aside from engaging in a series of meetings and consultations.
The Presidential aircraft landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport around 5:08 pm after nearly seven hours for the four-and-half hour Jeddah-Abuja flight due to the ongoing situation in Sudan that warrants the avoidance of the country’s entire airspace by air traffic.
A statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the President’s aircraft was rerouted and flew from Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia through Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, DRC, Central African Republic, Cameroon and eventually Nigeria.
Upon his arrival in Abuja, the President was received at the airport by the Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Deputy Inspector General of Police Danmallam Mohammed, representing the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Department of State Services Yusuf Magaji Bichi.