Sudan: More Nigerians To Leave In Coming Days

The Nigerian government has promised to continue evacuating its nationals, from Sudan, a country currently in crisis, by road to Egypt.

Manzo Ezekiel, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria (Nema) said evacuations have begun with Seven buses heading to Egypt from Khartoum.

In all, some 40 buses have been hired to transport the stranded Nigerians, according to Ezekiel, who said 3,500 Nigerians were to be transported initially to Aswan, in neighbouring Egypt.

the director of special missions of the Nema, Onimode Bandele said the organization thinks there are more than 5,000 Nigerians (in Sudan) but for now we are talking about 3,500, including students, who will be transported in buses to Aswan in Egypt,”

According to him, the trip “will take some time because Khartoum is about 1,200 kilometres from Aswan.

Upon arrival in Aswan, the evacuated Nigerians will be flown to Abuja, the Nigerian capital by local airline Air Peace who volunteered to fly the Nigerians for free.

The 12 days of intense fighting between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo and the regular army of Abdel Fattah al-Burhane have thrown the country into chaos and sent foreigners scrambling to return home.

These two generals, who staged the coup in October 2021, are now engaged in a merciless war for power, which has resulted in several hundred deaths and a massive exodus.

Western powers have sent Special Forces and military aircraft to repatriate their nationals and diplomatic personnel.

Many other countries began evacuations by road and sea shortly after the 72-hour U.S.-brokered cease-fire went into effect Tuesday.

Since fighting between paramilitaries and the regular army began on April 15, more than 459 people have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded, according to the UN.