Nigeria continues to evacuate its citizens from Sudan with the deployment of more aircraft that have so far brought home more than 1,866 people, including 136 returnees who arrived on Wednesday.
The latest batch of 136 Nigerians evacuated from Sudan through Port Sudan arrived at the Nnamdi Arzikiwe International Airport in Abuja under close supervision of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA).
NEMA Director-General Mustapha Ahmed confirmed that the total number of stranded Nigerian citizens brought back in 10 planes from the conflict-hit Sudan stood at 1,866.
“NEMA has set aside more aircraft to airlift more Nigerian nationals from Aswan in Egypt and Port Sudan,” Ahmed added.
Additionally, in response to the basic humanitarian needs of the Nigerian citizens at the Egyptian border, NEMA has continued to provide food, water and other essential supplies to them as they await clearance into Egypt for further airlifting to Nigeria. The food provision arrangement was made by NEMA and the Nigerian Embassy in Egypt.
“Taco aviation based in Sudan has also been engaged to enhance the movement of our citizens back home from Port Sudan,’’ Ahmed said.
Read: How countries are extracting foreigners from Sudan
He further said that NEMA would ensure the exercise, which will see the evacuation of more than 5,500 Nigerians, is done smoothly.
Nigeria Air Force aircraft
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Public Relations Director Ayodele Famuyiwa also confirmed that the service engaged its aircraft in the evacuation in addition to efforts by private airlines.
He explained that the NAF aircraft was among the carriers engaged in bringing back the first batch of Nigerians from Aswan in the wake of the ongoing security challenges in the North African country.
“The NAF effort is in furtherance of its constitutional role of aid to civil authority and in line with the commitment by the state to rescue and successfully return back home Nigerians living in Sudan,” Famuyiwa said.
Read: Kenya, Uganda scramble to get citizens out of Sudan
Returnees tell of woes
Many of the returnees, who commended the government for the quick response, narrated tales of woes as families and relatives thronged the Abuja airport to await the arrival of their loved ones.
Halliru Bello, who is a medical student at the International University of Africa in Sudan, prayed that Nigeria never experiences war as it could crumble the citizens and the nation.
“It started at 11am when we started hearing gunshots and after three days, we began experiencing airstrikes and missiles. The next thing we were told was not to leave our homes with no access to the market to buy food,” Bello said.
“Our experience was a very terrible one. We don’t pray for anyone ever to experience it. If you were not there, you won’t understand what we experienced,” he added.
Another student, Aisha Sumaila, said they suffered at the border because the Egyptian officers initially did not allow them access into the country.
“We slept in the open for 8 days,” she said.
Read: Nigerians stranded in Sudan return home
Returnees remitted
The Nigerian government, in collaboration with Dangote Foundation, has been giving N100,000 ($217) to each returnee as well as telephone recharge cards.
Nigeria’s Humanitarian Affairs, Social Development and Disaster Management Minister Sadiya Umar-Farouk said the government decided to give assistance to the returnees to enable them to travel back to their homes and access their families through communication.
She also said there were a lot of protocols that had to be followed to bring them back to Nigeria.
“We have to go through all required processes to get clearance from the Egyptian authorities to enable Nigerians to be allowed into their country and eventually returned back home,” she said.
“The Sudan violence has brought forward an international humanitarian crisis since stranded civilians in the country have no food or water and they don’t have anywhere else to go. It’s a very unfortunate situation and I urge Nigerians to pray for an everlasting peace in our country,” the minister added.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) said more aircraft were needed to evacuate about 2,500 Nigerians still trapped in Sudan.
NiDCOM chairperson Abike Dabiri-Erewa said there are more 1,000 nationals still stranded in Wadi Halfa village in Sudan close to the Egyptian border and over 1,500 at Port Sudan waiting to be ferried to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia before being airlifted back home.
