The Federal Government of Nigeria has begun
the evacuation of approximately 5,500 Nigerian citizens, including students,
who are stranded in Khartoum and other cities in Sudan. The government has
released N150m to hire 40 buses that will transport the citizens from Sudan to
Cairo in Egypt. The Central Bank of Nigeria made the payment to an undisclosed
transport company on Tuesday at 12:37 pm through the National Emergency
Management Agency. The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike
Dabiri-Erewa, confirmed that the evacuees would take off on Wednesday morning.
The evacuation comes against the backdrop of
a three-day ceasefire that the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support
Force declared, allowing foreign countries to move their nationals out of
Sudan. Deadly fighting between the two forces has entered the second week, and
the conflict has so far claimed about 500 lives, with thousands injured and
millions displaced. Foreigners are also fleeing the capital Khartoum in a long
United Nations convoy, while millions of frightened residents are hunkering
down inside their homes, many running low on water and food.
The Federal Government had planned to
repatriate Nigerian nationals on Tuesday but had to shift the evacuation to
Wednesday for security reasons. The government sought the support of the
Egyptian authorities to evacuate the 5,500 stranded Nigerians out of Sudan
through Luxor, Egypt. The Director of the Special Duties, National Emergency
Management Agency, who doubles as Chairman of NEMA’s Committee for the
Evacuation of the Stranded Nigerians from Sudan, Dr Onimode Bandele, said the
government met with government officials in Egypt on how to move Nigerians
through Luxor.
The National Association of Nigerian Students
arranged the transportation of some students through Ethiopia, but the students
were denied access to Ethiopia by the country’s authorities because they lacked
security clearance. Bandele advised Nigerians against self-evacuation, warning
them that such an arrangement was risky.
In a letter dated April 23, 2023, signed by
the Charge D’ Affairs, Nigerian Embassy in Sudan, Haruna Garko, the mission
requested 200 buses to convey 3,500 students from Khartoum to Cairo. The
Federal Government through NEMA transferred N150m to one Abubakar Ali through
Jaiz Bank for the transportation of the beleaguered citizens, according to the
payment receipt sighted by The PUNCH.
The embassy has explained the challenges it
is facing in its efforts to bring back the students and other stranded
Nigerians. The message sent on Monday evening reads in part, “Good evening dear
parents, I wish to respectfully update you on our efforts since morning.
Fortunately, we are alive to tell the story. Three of us (Embassy officials)
were harassed and almost killed by RSF forces on our way to get the buses).”
In another message sent to the students, the
embassy attributed the delay to logistics issues. A copy of the receipt
obtained by our correspondent showed that the N150m was paid on Tuesday at
12:37 pm for the purpose of the Sudan evacuation. The funding bank was the
Central Bank of Nigeria through NEMA.
