Sudan Crisis: 3,500 Nigerian Students To Be Evacuated Today, NIDCOM Chairperson

The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, says about 3,500 Nigerian students are to be evacuated from Sudan today!

She said this during an interview on Channels Television’s breakfast program, Sunrise Daily on Thursday.  According to her, the students will arrive in Cairo, Egypt later in the evening.

“13 buses left of about 60 people have already left. We are hoping that they would get into as one later this evening, but we are monitoring them. It is not a very pleasant situation, mission officials are waiting to receive them,” the NIDCOM boss said.

However, she lamented that there are many undocumented Nigerians seeking evacuation from the North African country.

“There is a little challenge. Three thousand five hundred students, yes. Nigerians there are now coming without any documentation,” Dabiri-Erewa added. “They now say they want to come back.”

According to her,  the government is vigilant to monitor the safe arrival of the students down to the country.

“13 buses left of about 60 people have already left. We are hoping that they would get into as one later this evening, but we are monitoring them,” she said.  “It is not a very pleasant situation, mission officials are waiting to receive them.”

But she admitted that there were little challenges with the logistics and the rising number of persons who have applied to be ferried to safety.

Another set of buses, hopefully when funds are received from them because the transporters insist that they want to collect their cash before they even load the next set of buses,” the former TV host said.

“The mission is now being bombarded with people that never registered, that never showed presence, saying that they wanna come.

“Everything is been done by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to ensure that is done. Perhaps, when we get all our data right, Sudan Republic is one of the areas where we have our largest diaspora population.”

‘Nothing Better than Peace’

She also noted that the issue of the continuation of the student’s education would not be a problem, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved funds for the purpose and the welfare of those affected.

Dabiri-Erewa equally rued the situation in Sudan, calling for peace among the warring factions.

“The 72 hour is lapsing, there is a lot of tension, a lot of desperation. There is been a lot of talks with the AU and two warring factions and there is nothing better than peace in all these situations,” she said.

“What the mission had to do was to ensure that only students come first because that was what we agreed.”

Her comments come hours after the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, gave an update about the evacuation, noting that no Nigerian life has been lost.

Channels Television