The Federal Government will begin the evacuation of approximately 5,500 Nigerians, including students, who have become stranded in Khartoum and other Sudanese cities today.
To help with repatriation, the government has set aside N150 million to hire 40 buses to transport its desperate citizens from Sudan to Cairo, Egypt.
The Central Bank of Nigeria transferred the funds to an unnamed transport company on Tuesday at 12:37 p.m. via the National Emergency Management Agency.
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The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, confirmed the payment on Tuesday, noting that the evacuees would leave on Wednesday morning.
The evacuation is taking place against the backdrop of a three-day ceasefire declared by Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Force at midnight Tuesday.
As deadly fighting between the two forces enters its second week, foreign countries are taking advantage of the temporary cessation of hostilities to evacuate their nationals from Sudan.
Over a power-sharing disagreement, clashes erupted between former allies General Abdel al-Burha, head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and General Mohamed Dagalo, leader of the RSF paramilitary group.
So far, the conflict has claimed 500 lives, injured thousands more, and displaced millions.
Foreigners are also fleeing the capital Khartoum in a long-distance United Nations convoy, while millions of terrified residents have hunkered down inside their homes, with many running low on water and food.
Across the city of five million, army and paramilitary troops have fought ferocious street battles since April 15, leaving behind charred tanks, gutted buildings and looted shops.
Several ceasefires that were agreed by both sides were ignored, including a three-day pause to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which started on Friday.
The Federal Government had planned the repatriation of Nigerian nationals in that country on Tuesday but had to shift the evacuation to Wednesday (today) for security reasons.
It was reported that 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, had said the government met with government officials in Egypt on how to move Nigerians through Luxor.
Following the delay in evacuating students from Sudan, the National Association of Nigerian Students arranged the transportation of some students through Ethiopia.
The students were, however, denied access to Ethiopia by the country’s authorities because they lacked security clearance.
Bandele, who advised Nigerians against self-evacuation, said such an arrangement was risky.
“Whatever you meet is your headache, because you did not listen to the authorities that are supposed to cater for you,” he had warned Nigerians.
There were indications on Tuesday that the Federal Government had intensified efforts to evacuate the students and other stranded Nigerians.
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.