According to report made available to POLITICS NIGERIA, more than 500 Nigerian students being evacuated from Khartoum, the capital of war-torn Sudan, to Egypt have been stranded on the northern and western borders of the two countries.
Over 100 of them are trapped in a village called Wadi Halfa, less than 100 kilometres away from Egypt over bus fares.
It was gathered that the Nigerian ambassador in Egypt and other officials were at the border waiting to receive the students, but they could not cross last night.
“No Nigerian student has crossed to Egypt. Sudan has not allowed them to leave the country. They charge $400 per vehicle and $10 per individual,” the source said.
Nigeria and Egypt. Seven of them are in desperate condition, and they really need assistance presently. They were dumped in a village with no hospital, no food,” he said.
Meanwhile, for the remaining students that have yet to be repatriated from Khartoum, the source said their trip was being delayed because their payment issues were not settled.
“They were loaded into 27 buses at one university called Afriqiyya. Each bus carries 49 students, but as they were about to go, the drivers turned off the engines and directed the students to alight.
“So, they had to go back. They are still there in Khartoum, and nobody knows the situation they are in. Only God knows,” he added.
We are doing our best – Envoy
The Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Sudan, Safiu Olaniyan, has assured that the embassy officials are fully on the ground in Khartoum to ensure the evacuation of the students.
The envoy, in a voice note, clarified that the embassy was not in charge of hiring buses to convey evacuees out of Sudan, and pleaded with those aggrieved to rethink an alleged plan to attack embassy officials.
He also raised concern about lack of food and water while reacting to complaints and allegations levelled against the embassy on the situation in Sudan. He said the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were in charge of the buses.
Olaniyan said, “So our own is to get the necessary instructions that this and this have been arranged, and we just give instructions to the students to meet at so-and-so place and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
The envoy said efforts were still being made to convince the Egyptian authorities to allow Nigerians fleeing Sudan to pass through their country, from where they would be flown back home.
He said, “With regards to those who are on the border of Egypt, the issue is for security clearance to be issued for the evacuees to be able to move across into the Egyptian side of the border.
“All that needs to be contacted in Nigeria are being contacted for them to contact their counterparts in Egypt for this clearance to be issued. It’s unfortunate that it has not been issued, but within a very short time, all this will be in the past.
“Once again, I urge you to be calm and await the necessary developments. Nobody is sleeping. We know that you’re there because we’re also here, and we’re not going to leave you to your own fate. We’re in this together, and we’re not leaving until you’ve all left for safety and to Nigeria.”
Source: Daily Trust
