THE Federal Government has debunked reports that students travelling from Sudan to Egypt were abandoned in the middle of the desert on Thursday, April 27.
The Federal Government also denied reports that students were placed in various buses and were being treated differently based on states of origin, saying there were separated for administrative reasons.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) Abdul Balogun debunked the reports in an interview with The ICIR on Thursday.
“Saw the videos. Not true. They only profiled them for administrative purposes. First batch arrive Abuja tomorrow,” he noted in a text message to The ICIR.
NIDCOM Chairman Abike Dabiri also announced via Twitter that she had reached out to the Director-General of the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Mustapha Ahmed who confirmed that the journey to Egypt from Sudan had continued.
“I have just spoken to @nemanigeria DG. He confirmed the buses have continued their journey and said whatever issues have been resolved,” she tweeted.
The Federal Government is evacuating Nigerian students trapped in Sudan following the crisis that broke out in the country.
The government had arranged for bus operators to convey the stranded Nigerians to Aswan, Egypt, after calls for a ceasefire, which would allow countries airlift their citizens from Sudan, failed.
NEMA confirmed on Wednesday, April 26, that the first batch of Nigerian students trapped in Suda had begun the journey to Aswan, Egypt, from where they would be airlifted to Nigeria.
NEMA PRO Manzo Ezekiel said the students were expected in Abuja by Thursday night.
However, a video circulated on the social media on Thursday, in which students were seen complaining of being abandoned in the middle of a desert due to non-payment of fees to the bus operators by the Federal Government.
In one of the videos, a lady, believed to be one of the students, said they were abandoned in the desert by the transporters for hours, without food and water.
The students expressed displeasure at the situation and called on the government to pay the transporters, for the journey to continue.
There were also reports on the social media that students were separated and placed in buses according to states of origin.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.