A Nigerian woman has given birth on board a flight that was repatriating Nigerians from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said the woman gave birth 30 minutes after the flight took off from the airport.

The name of the woman is Kafayat Amusan.

Abike Babiri-Erewa said the plane returned to the airport in Dubai immediately so that both baby and mother would be in safe hands.

She added that Ms Amusan and her baby are in good condition after they were admitted to a hospital in Dubai.

They would return to Nigeria after the baby’s birth certificate is issued and other necessary travel documents are prepared.

Ms Amusan was part of the first batch of Nigerians evacuated from the UAE due to the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the world.

The plane later brought some 256 people to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos at about 7 pm local time on Wednesday.

Nigeria's authorities have said that those returning will be quarantined at secured isolation centres in both in Lagos and Abuja.

Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffery Onyeama earlier announced that 4,000 Nigerians living abroad had expressed their willingness to return home.