$1.2 million spent to transport stranded Nigerians to Cairo in Sudan crisis – FG

 

People prepare to board a bus departing from Khartoum in the Sudanese capital’s south on April 24, 2023, as battles rage in the city between the army and paramilitaries. (Photo by – / AFP)

The Nigerian Federal Government has revealed that it spent $1.2 million to deploy 40 buses to evacuate at least 2,400 stranded Nigerians out of Sudan. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, made the disclosure to State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. According to Onyeama, the high cost of the evacuation was necessary to provide security cover for the eight-hour journey from Luxor to Cairo and the eleven-hour trip from Aswan to Cairo, Egypt.

The evacuation was initially planned for Tuesday but failed due to logistical challenges. The new travel plans were, however, finalized on Tuesday night, according to the Chairperson of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa. She confirmed that more buses arrived on Wednesday morning, and the stranded students would depart on the same day.

Notably, the evacuation was triggered by the recent conflict in Sudan. Although the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces had agreed to halt hostilities at midnight on Monday, local media reported that fighting had resumed even as a hospital was shelled on Wednesday. Thankfully, no Nigerian lost their life in the conflict. However, Onyeama stated that there were no talks about alternative plans for continued education for the evacuees, most of whom are students of the University of Khartoum.

In summary, the Nigerian government spent $1.2 million to evacuate its citizens from Sudan due to the conflict in the country. Although the evacuation faced logistical challenges, the government finalized new travel plans on Tuesday night and successfully evacuated the stranded students on Wednesday.