Sudan: Uncertainty Beclouds Nigerians As FG Spends $1.2m To Evacuate 2,400

Sodiq Mojibola & Peace Adedigba 

The fate of over 3 million Nigerians stuck in Sudan remains unknown as the Federal Government spends $1.2 million to evacuate 2,400.

The Federal Government, on Wednesday, in Abuja announced a total expenditure of $1.2m to deploy 40 evacuation buses to Sudan for stranded Nigerians.

During this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, announced that the evacuation of Nigerian citizens from Sudan cost a significant amount due to the need for security cover during the journey.

Onyeama explained further that the need for the spending was to provide security for the eight-hour journey from Luxol to Cairo and the eleven-hour trip from Aswan to Cairo, Egypt.

The Minister noted that although there were no casualties among the Nigerian citizens, there are no plans for their continued education after the evacuation.

PLATFORM TIMES gathered earlier that Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission sent 40 buses to move citizens out of Khartoum and other troubled areas of Sudan.

The Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora said in a tweet earlier on Wednesday that the evacuation originally planned for Tuesday was delayed due to logistical challenges.

The new travel plans were finalised on Tuesday night, and the evacuation was successfully carried out early on Wednesday.

The post reads, “Last night, the Nigeria Evacuation team in Sudan received some buses to transport Nigerian Students to nearby borders in Egypt, before airlifting them to Nigeria, this has been sorted by the Federal Government through @nemanigeria and the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan.

“More buses are arriving this morning and the stranded students will depart today.”

In a development, Abike Dabiri has said that the next post of the NiDCOM will be when the evacuees arrive at their destination.

“Our next update, by God’s grace, will be when they arrive at their location. Please put them in prayers” she said.

…It Is For Nigeria, Not An Ethnic Debacle — Airpeace Boss

Chief Executive of Air Peace, Allen Onyeama, has cleared the air that his support to evacuate stranded Nigerians from war-torn Sudan is not an ethnic matter.

He stated that his action was not a publicity stunt but instead borne out of the deep conviction to promote the unity of Nigeria.

He, however, regretted that some Nigerians on social media had turned his gesture to ethnic warfare.

Onyeama berated the netizens on Wednesday during a television interview.

He said the country’s unity is paramount to him, which should be true for all Nigerians.

He added that he would send three jets to Egypt to airlift Nigerians being evacuated from Sudan.

“I am a good adherent of what you can do for your nation, not what your country can do for you.

“I feel personally honoured to help my country; it is not a publicity stunt because I have been doing it right from my university days.

“However, it pains me that my gesture has started causing some problems on social media. People are trying to bring an ethnic angle into it, for those supporting me, the Igbos rooting for me, saying an Igboman is doing this and this, please stop. And people from the other tribes with one or two things to say about the development should stop.

“It is a Nigeria thing, not about Igbo, Yoruba, or Hausa. It isn’t a good gesture to turn into an ethnic debacle; it pains me and makes me uncomfortable to the extent that I might not do it again. I want to promote unity, not disunity”, he said.

Recall that Onyeama offered to evacuate stranded Nigerians in Sudan for free; however, his gesture generated mix-reactions.

Sudan’s crisis erupted on 15 April 2023, involving warring factions led by two Generals.

Though a 72-hour cease-fire was announced on Tuesday, countries had continued to evacuate their nationals from the region.

… How FG Is Evacuating 3,500 Nigerians — NEMA

On Wednesday, the evacuation of Nigerian citizens, predominantly students, from Sudan to neighbouring Egypt began.

The first batch of approximately 3,500 citizens was able to leave due to a precarious ceasefire that permitted foreigners to evacuate.

Following the outbreak of fighting between forces loyal to two rival generals nearly two weeks ago, hundreds of people have lost their lives, and parts of Khartoum have been left in ruins.

The Nigerian evacuees will travel a distance of 950 kilometers (590 miles) from Khartoum, Sudan to their destination, Aswan, Egypt.

Western nations have also assisted their embassy staff and citizens through the deployment of special forces and military aircraft, while others have evacuated the Sudanese capital by road.

Nigeria’s National Emergency Management (NEMA) Spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel told AFP that 7 buses conveying Nigerian nationals left Khartoum and are en route to Egypt.

“The evacuation of our citizens has commenced. Seven buses have left Khartoum and they are heading to Egypt,” he said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama told reporters that 40 buses have been hired to transport Nigerian citizens to Egypt, though a trip from Khartoum will take time.

“The distance is quite considerable. We need a couple of days to evacuate everybody,” he said.

According to reports, the distance between Khartoum and Aswan is approximately 1,200 kilometers (745 miles).

The minister disclosed that Nigerian military cargo planes and a private airline, Air Peace, will be utilized to transport the citizens back to Nigeria.

It has been reported that there are over 5,000 Nigerian citizens in Sudan.

On Tuesday, Onimode Bandele, the NEMA special duties director, informed AFP that embassy staff and other officials were present at the collection center to assist in the evacuation process.

“We are looking at over 5,000 Nigerians, but right now we are talking of 3,500, including students, that will be transported in buses to Aswan in Egypt,” he said.

According to Bandele, all the essential precautions have been implemented by the government to guarantee the safety of Nigerian citizens.

…Possible Ceasefire Extension As Former Dictator Escapes Prison

On Wednesday, there was continued fighting on the outskirts of Khartoum between Sudan’s army and a paramilitary force, which undermined the ceasefire established during their 11-day conflict.

However, despite the continued conflict, the army expressed its willingness to extend the truce.

In the late hours of Wednesday, the army’s leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, gave preliminary approval to extend the truce for an additional 72 hours and dispatch an army representative to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, for negotiations.

Previously, the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had agreed to a three-day ceasefire, which was set to expire late on Thursday.

As of yet, there has been no response from the RSF regarding the proposal from the regional bloc, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The military announced that the proposal, which included extending the truce and engaging in talks between the two forces, was formulated by the presidents of South Sudan, Kenya, and Djibouti.

“Burhan thanked the IGAD and expressed an initial approval to that,” the army statement said.

According to a statement from the State Department on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat discussed collaborating to achieve a sustainable end to the conflict.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, some of the heaviest fighting occurred in Omdurman, a city adjacent to Khartoum.

The fighting, which started on April 15, has led to the deaths of at least 512 people, injuries to almost 4,200, destruction of hospitals, and hampered food distribution in a country where one-third of the 46 million population was already dependent on humanitarian aid.

The ongoing military conflict in Sudan has raised concerns among civilian groups that it could result in the military gaining more control and loyalists of an ousted dictator returning to power.

The former dictator, Omar al-Bashir, who was removed from power in 2019, along with at least five former officials, was transferred from Khartoum’s Kober prison to a military hospital before the conflict.

Over the weekend, thousands of prisoners, including a former minister in Bashir’s government, were released from prison.

Bashir, who ruled for three decades, was overthrown by a popular uprising four years ago and has been in prison on Sudanese charges related to the 1989 coup.

The political grouping, Sudan’s Forces of Freedom and Change, expressed concern that the war, initiated by the ousted regime, could lead to the collapse of the country.

The transition to democracy, led by the FCC, was postponed after fighting broke out between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, with disputes over merging the security forces.

Civilian groups have accused Bashir’s loyalists of attempting to use the conflict to return to power, while the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who rose to power under Bashir but later turned against him, has opposed the Islamists who backed the former army autocrat.