President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, yesterday, disclosed that the presidency is deeply worried over thousands of Nigerian citizens trapped in troubled Sudan owing to the dangers associated with air travel in the North African country, just as the Federal Government is working towards safe evacuation plan.
Speaking on the incident via his Twitter handle, Shehu wrote: “Nigerian government has been having sleepless nights following the ongoing crisis in Sudan. Our officials are doing a lot, coordinating with the Embassy in Khartoum, the Sudanese and Ethiopian governments, trying to ensure the safety of the large number of our citizens there.
“Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, who is coordinating these efforts, is optimistic that they will start moving people to safety as soon as possible.”
The conflict between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary group, Rapid Support Force, has claimed over 400 lives with about 3,500 injured.
The clashes have also displaced thousands of civilians, who fled the capital, Khartoum, as the violence, which started on April 8, entered its 15th day yesterday.
This is a result of fighting between Sudan’s Army Chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s forces, and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, that has led to the death of hundreds and left many foreign nationals stranded.
The fighting escalated on April 15 over a dispute on the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.
Until recently, the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF paramilitary group were allies. They worked together in 2019 in a popular uprising that overthrew Sudan’s brutal dictator, Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades.
Meanwhile, the Embassy of Nigeria in Khartoum has asked Nigerian students trapped in the country to disregard the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), who had asked them to converge for evacuation.
NANS Sudan, in a statement dated Sunday, asked students trapped in the country to prepare for evacuation to Ethiopia.
Announcing evacuation plans yesterday, the student body asked the students to prepare a $100 transport fee as well.
But the Nigerian Embassy, in a circular signed by its representative, H.R Garko, countered NANS, saying it “wishes to inform all students in Sudan that they should disregard the notice circulated by NANS in Sudan calling students to converge on the three locations namely: African International University, NANS Office and El-Razi University for evacuation or to bring $100 or $200 for evacuation.”
It said as the Embassy had earlier informed students, “you are requested to stay calm and remain indoors, while the embassy is working on final approval to commence evacuation.”
The Federal Government, through the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had on Friday, described as “risky” evacuating Nigerians from Sudan.
However, several countries have evacuated diplomats and citizens from Sudan’s capital as fierce fighting continues to rage in Khartoum. The United States (U.S.) and United Kingdom (UK) announced yesterday they had flown diplomats out of the country.
France, Germany and Italy are among other countries also organising evacuations, which started yesterday.
U.S. authorities said they had airlifted fewer than 100 people with three Chinook helicopters on Sunday morning in a “fast and clean” operation. The U.S. embassy in Khartoum is now closed, and a tweet on its official feed said it is not safe enough for the government to evacuate private U.S. citizens.
The UK government managed to airlift British diplomats and their families out of the country in what was described as a “complex and rapid” operation. Foreign Minister James Cleverly said options to evacuate the remaining British nationals in Sudan were “severely limited”.
Several other countries were conducting evacuation operations yesterday: France evacuated about 100 people by air, according to French media. Some were nationals of other countries including the UK and Germany
A handful of Dutch citizens left Khartoum on the French plane, and the Netherlands hopes to airlift more citizens out yesterday evening.
Germany is in the process of evacuating its nationals, with its first military plane landing in Khartoum on Sunday afternoon. Italy’s evacuation operation has also begun, according to local media.
Other countries successfully evacuated people on Saturday. More than 150 people, mostly citizens of Gulf countries, as well as Egypt, Pakistan and Canada were evacuated by sea to the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah.
Meanwhile, there are reports that Internet connectivity has almost totally collapsed in Sudan, which could seriously hinder the coordination of help for those trapped in Khartoum and other cities.
There have been desperate calls for help from many foreign students – from Africa, Asia and the Middle East – who are also stuck in Khartoum, a city of some six million people.
Reacting, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has expressed sadness and concern at the reported trapping of some Nigerian citizens in war-torn Sudan and wondered why they have not been evacuated. This was contained in a statement by the Obi/Datti campaign organisation issued in Abuja yesterday.
The statement quoted the LP presidential candidate to have stated in his tweet on Sunday: “While we appreciate the extreme challenges in Sudan, we deeply implore the Federal Government to expedite all efforts to rescue about 4,000 Nigerians that are mostly students in Sudan to safety.”
The former Anambra State governor remarked that since “the Sudanese crisis is not a natural disaster that happened suddenly, it will be sad to lose any Nigerian to the conflict, especially now that we need all hands to create and sustain a new Nigeria.
“Since it is the statutory responsibility of FG to protect Nigerians at home in Nigeria and abroad, it is important that we attend to such issues with more deserving proactiveness and commitment as the life of every Nigerian is sacred and important.”
The NANS, Zone D, yesterday, urged Nigerian students in Sudan to be law-abiding and obey all instructions as the Federal Government is set to evacuate them. The Southwest (Zone D) Coordinator of NANS, Adejuwon Emmanuel Olatunji, stated this while speaking with The Guardian in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He confirmed that a meeting was held between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and NANS representatives where the Minister assured of swift evacuation.
The student leader said: “All Nigerians studying in Sudan should be rest assured that all hands are on deck. However, Nigerian students in Sudan should be law-abiding and also listen and adhere to instructions and the needful will be done soonest.”
