APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that there are plans to evacuate more than 2,000 Nigerians in Sudan on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
The Director, Special Duties of NEMA, Mr. Onimode Bandele, told Channels Television during a live interview on Sunrise Daily on Monday that nobody has been evacuated yet from Sudan.
He explained that he had spoken with Nigerian ambassador in Khartoum and that “It is true that there are plans to get buses to start moving tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. And as I speak to you, the Director General, National Emergency Management Agency, Mustapha Habib, is already in Cairo because that is the window that we are looking at.”
He disclosed that the evacuation will be perfected between the Nigerian embassy in Khartoum and the director general of NEMA.
On the number Nigerians to be evacuated from Sudan, Bandele explained that the evacuation of a few thousand Nigerians are in the works.
“Our projection was that most students and others who want to evacuate are about 5,000. But with my discussion with the ambassador this morning, the plan is for about 2,650-2,800 to move immediately, including families of embassy staff.
“As these plans continue, we’ll be able to update you with the actual figure and the exact time of departure from Khartoum to Cairo,” the report by Channels Television quoted Bandele as saying.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, has said that the number of Nigerians in Sudan is 5,500.
Onyeama stated on Sunday that out of the number, 80 percent of them are students and that some countries had only evacuated their diplomatic staff and not all of their citizens as speculated online.
Onyeama urged Nigerians in Sundan to “stay where you are” before the evacuation begins.
“Essentially, where we are at the moment is trying to get authorisation from the Sudanese government to undertake this long convoy journey and for them to provide some security,” the Minister added.
GIK/APA