Sudan: First set of Nigeria evacuees to arrive today

The first batch of stranded Nigerians in Sudan have been evacuated by the Federal Government and are expected to arrive in Abuja today.

This is according to a statement issued by Mr. Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) on Thursday.

The information was given at a State House briefing by Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman, NiDCOM.

Dabiri-Erewa said a total of 13 out of the 40 buses hired to transport Nigerians from Sudan already left since Wednesday and moved by road to the border town of Aswan in Egypt.

Members of staff of the embassy in Egypt and the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), Mr Mustapha Habeeb-Muhammed received the evacuees.

She said 10 of those buses transported Nigerians from Universities in Khartoum while the remaining three buses were dispatched to El- Razi University to convey them to the town in Egypt.

On allegations of segregation and discrimination in the evacuation process, she explained that children and women were given priority as they were profiled for administrative purposes.

The NiDCOM boss said a Boeing 777 from Airpeace would depart Lagos by evening of Thursday and would transport the first batch home on Friday.

She also assured all Nigerians that all those who registered to be evacuated home would be facilitated irrespective of status, gender, and state.

Dabiri-Erewa clarified that besides the huge population of Nigeria students in Sudan, there were millions of other Nigerians in the country doing their legitimate business and residing there peacefully.

She allayed the fears of being attacked by the warlords, saying the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, already secured the understanding of the two warlords before the transportation of Nigerians by road.