The Federal Government has deployed 40 buses to move no fewer than 2,400 stranded Nigerians out of Sudan today.
The plan to bring stranded Nigerians from the crisis-ridden Sudanese capital Khartoum back to the country yesterday failed because of logistics challenges.
Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, confirmed the new travel plan last night.
Dabiri-Erewa said that the convoy will take off from the border towns of Luxol and Aswan to Cairo, the Egyptian capital.
From there, Air Peace will airlift them to Nigeria.
Luxol to Cairo is about eight hours by road, while Aswan to Cairo is about 11 hours.
The government warned those remaining in Sudan not to embark on any risky journeys to the borders.
It also urged those affected to remain calm and maintain constant communication with the Embassy.
A joint statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said efforts were being made to rescue all citizens.
The statement was signed by a Director in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Janet Olisa and the Permanent Secretary of the Humanitarian Ministry, Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo.
It reads: “The honourable ministers…express concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Sudan and empathise with the entire civilian population in the country, including the Nigerian students, and other members of the Nigerian community caught up in the ongoing crisis between the Sudanese Army and the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
“The honourable ministers note with concern that some of these students are trying to find their way to contiguous borders of either Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia or Chad on their own.
“In line with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, the humanitarian sector, comprising FMHADMSD, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI)), is working very closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nigerian Missions in the countries bordering Sudan, as well as with other relevant stakeholders especially the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Armed Forces, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and international humanitarian organisations such as International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to immediately evacuate these students and other affected Nigerian citizens.
“The ministers, therefore, urge parents to advise their wards that while concerted efforts are being made to evacuate them, the students should endeavour to remain calm and maintain constant communication with officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan for instructions and updates.”
The ministers stated that the Embassy officials can be reached at +2348035866773, +249961956284, +2348063636862, +249961956274, and +2349066663493.
The statement adds: “They are also advised to guard against undertaking the journey to the border on their own, in view of the dangers involved.
“On this note, the honourable ministers emphasise that concrete plans are underway to deploy, very shortly, air transport to evacuate all stranded Nigerian citizens through the identified safe transit areas back home to Nigeria in safety and dignity.”
A Nigerian student in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, told the BBC she and others had been waiting seven hours for a bus to flee the city.
“We’re still hopeful,” the student said.
Temperatures there can reach 43C (109F) in the midday heat and drinking water is hard to come by; yet she says many fellow Nigerians are waiting outside in full sun to make sure they do not miss their chance to get home.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) urged the Federal Government to move quicker.
Its Vice President, External Affairs, Akinteye Afeez, said in a statement: “It is with a sense of disbelief and disappointment that we announce to the world that the Nigerian students in Sudan are still stranded and waiting for the evacuation team.
“This is happening after the Nigerian Consulate officials in Sudan have instructed them to prepare for evacuation and after obeying several other directives to prepare them for a smooth evacuation. Now, they’re stranded and exposed to danger in their various places of convergence.
“It is certain that if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not have the resources to cater for this evacuation, the Federal Government would not have instructed them to do so.
“This, therefore, implies that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has intentionally intended to gamble with the lives of the Nigerian Students in Sudan and this is totally unacceptable.
“As a matter of immediacy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NEMA, within the next 24 hours, must look for every means possible to get the Nigerian students out of Sudan and back to Nigeria.
“If these students are not evacuated within the 72-hour cease-fire agreement, all hell shall be let loose and we shall completely occupy the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until the students are evacuated from Sudan and brought back to Nigeria.”
A pan-Nigeria anti-sabotage organisation, The Natives, urged the Federal Government to ensure that no Nigerian life is lost in Sudan.
Supreme Leader of the Natives, Smart Edwards, in a statement in Abuja, called on all politicians across the party lines, well-meaning and high-placed Nigerians to use their contacts to ensure the safety of all Nigerians residing in Sudan, particularly in Khartoum.
“We are urging all the stakeholders to ensure that no life of a Nigerian is lost in the ongoing crisis,” Edwards said.
Uneasy truce holds amidst gunfire, shelling in Sudan
A ceasefire in Sudan appears to be holding, although there have been reports of new gunfire and shelling.
It is the fourth effort to stop the fighting which began on 15 April, with previous truces not observed.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the 72-hour truce had been agreed between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after 48 hours of negotiations
The latest ceasefire attempt started at midnight (22:00 GMT on Monday).
At least 459 people have died in the conflict so far, though the actual number is thought to be much higher.
Both sides had confirmed they would cease hostilities.
The reported temporary ceasefire in Sudan is a potential lifesaver for civilians who have been trapped in their homes without the ability to access food, clean water, and medical care.
ICRC calls for durable political solution to crisis
Street battles and the use of heavy explosive weapons in Khartoum have had a devastating impact on civilians and critical infrastructure over the last week, forcing many to flee or seek shelter.
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regional director for Africa, Patrick Youssef, said: “Khartoum is a densely populated city of millions. When heavy explosive weapons are used, street corners become battlefields, and civilians pay the greatest price. Hundreds have been killed and thousands injured, a heart-breaking outcome of this violence.
“We welcome the reports of a ceasefire and urge the international community to help find a durable political solution to end the bloodshed.
“It’s clear that this ceasefire must be implemented up and down the chain of command and that it must hold for it to give a real respite to civilians suffering from the fighting.”
But Tagreed Abdin, who lives 7km from the centre of Khartoum, said she could hear shelling from her home yesterday morning despite the agreement.
“The situation right now is that this morning there was shelling and gunfire,” she told the BBC.
The RSF has accused the army of violating the truce by “continuing to attack Khartoum with planes”.
An army spokesperson has told Sky News Arabia that the RSF was responsible for “storming prisons” following reports of gunfire at Port Sudan.
WHO warns of high bio-hazard risk’ after lab seized
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned there is a “high risk of biological hazard” after fighters seized a laboratory believed to be holding samples of diseases, including polio and measles.
The National Public Health Laboratory is near the centre of Khartoum and not far from the city’s main airport.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva via video link from Sudan, the WHO’s Nima Saeed Abid said technicians were unable to access the National Public Health Laboratory to secure the materials.
“This is the main concern: no accessibility to the lab technicians to go to the lab and safely contain the biological material and substances available,” he said, declining to specify which side had seized the facility.
Countries have scrambled to evacuate diplomats and civilians as fighting raged in central, densely populated parts of the capital.
