THE Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has said that a total of 2,518 Nigerians have been evacuated from Sudan to their home country, Nigeria.
NIDCOM head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, said this in Abuja on Sunday, May 14 while giving an update on the evacuation exercise.
On April 20, the Federal government had commenced moves to evacuate Nigerians trapped in Sudan.
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This followed reports of unrest in the country as a result of violent clashes between the Sudanese Army and a paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF have been fighting for control of the government since February 15. As a result, at least, 180 people have been killed.
The plan to evacuate Nigerians trapped in the country was in response to a request by Nigerian students in Sudan for immediate evacuation from the country.
The evacuation process began on Wednesday, April 26, when stranded Nigerians embarked on the journey from Khartoum, the Sudan capital, to Egypt by road.
Speaking on the development, Balogun said, ”As of today being Sunday, this is where we are with the evacuation exercise.
“The evacuation is done through a total number of 15 flights, with four from Aswan, Egypt and 11 from Port Sudan.
“As I said earlier, a total of 2,371 evacuees have safely returned home as of Saturday, May 13.
“The new arrivals just now are 140 adults, comprising three infants and 30 children, making a total evacuation to 2,518″.
The NiDCOM chairperson, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said that the Summit University, Offa, Kwara, was among the higher institutions that showed interest in admitting Nigerian student returnees.
The ICIR had reported that the first batch of Nigerians fleeing the crisis arrived in Abuja late on Wednesday, May 3.
The batch comprised a total of 376 persons, and each of them received N100,000 cash for transportation to their various homes.
On May 5, the Federal government revealed that Nigerians in Sudan who indicated interest in leaving had all been successfully evacuated from the country’s capital, Khartoum.
The permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Sani Gwarz, disclosed this while receiving the second batch of 130 evacuees at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Nigeria and Sudan have had a close relationship since 1960.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M