The evacuation of stranded Nigerians from Sudan earlier scheduled for Tuesday is yet to begin.
Daily Trust reported that the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students in Sudan, Abubakar Babangida confirmed to its correspondent on Tuesday night that the evacuation had not commenced.
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The Director, Special Duties of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had on Monday in a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, confirmed that the agency had completed plans to evacuate over 2,000 Nigerians on Tuesday 25th April, 2023.
Abubakar Babangida in the Daily Trust report complained of the bad communication network in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and stated that he was not sure when the evacuation would take place.
He, however, acknowledged that efforts were being made by the Nigerian government to rescue the stranded students.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa has disclosed the evacuation may proceed on Wednesday morning.
Dabiri-Erewa revealed that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has sorted all payments needed to finalise the evacuation, except for a few impediments in logistics.
She made the disclosure while responding to a question on Twitter.
They are still in Khartoum.@nemanigeria has sorted all payments etc but there are still a few logistical delays . They will likely proceed early morning . Safer to leave early morning . A war situation is not a normal situation. We are all anxiously waiting to receive them https://t.co/8pBi0gskKT
— . (@s2_vpd) April 25, 2023
The Nigerian government had on Tuesday released the numbers for the evacuation exercise in a joint statement by Geoffrey Onyeama and Sadiya Faruk, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
The ministers urged parents to advise their wards to be calm as concerted efforts were being made to evacuate all Nigerians stranded in Sudan.
The statement advised all Nigerian nationals to guard against undertaking the treacherous journey to the borders on their own, in view of the dangers involved.
“Nigerian Embassy officials in Sudan can be reached through the following numbers: +2348035866773, +249961956284, +2348063636862, +249961956274, and +2349066663493,” the statement added.
In a tweet in the early hours on Wednesday, Abike Dabiri-Erewa stated that buses that will convey Nigerian students to nearby borders in Egypt has started arriving.
Thanks for the update. We wish them a safe trip home. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
— Aisha Alkali (Mrs) (@haseena91) April 25, 2023
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
