The Nigerian government says its officials are working round the clock to ensure safe evacuation of Nigerians in war-ravaged Sudan. It asked citizens to wait for an update on the efforts taken so far in a televised interview to be aired Sunday night.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide on Sunday said the Nigerian government “has been having sleepless nights following the ongoing crisis in Sudan.”
“Minister Geoffrey Onyeama who is coordinating these efforts is optimistic that they will start moving people to safety as soon as possible,” Mr Shehu said in tweets. “Watch the Minister explain what they are doing on Channels TV this evening.”
The president’s spokesman added that “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.”
The Buhari regime had earlier given excuses as to why Nigerians in the embattled North African nation could not be evacuated after war broke out in Sudan last week between Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over disagreements on transition to civilian rule.
The Nigerian government through the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said it is impossible to evacuate Nigerians trapped in Sudan.
“The tense situation makes it gravely risky and impossible for any flights at this point in time,” Mrs Dabiri-Erewa said on Saturday.
No fewer than 400 persons have been killed in the fierce battle that has seen the UK, U.S. and France hurriedly evacuate their citizens from Sudan.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, opposition leader Peter Obi expressed grief that many Nigerians are currently trapped in the raging war in Sudan. He charged the Muhammadu Buhari administration to “expedite all efforts to rescue about 4000 Nigerians that are mostly students in Sudan to safety.”
