– Saudi Arabia, Jordan nationals billed to leave Saturday
Eight days after fighting erupted in Sudan between the forces of two rival Generals, the Federal Government announced the setting up of a committee to work towards rescuing Nigerian citizens trapped in Sudan due the current unrest in the North African country.
Meanwhile, Sudan’s de facto President and Commander-in-chief of the Army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has agreed to the evacuation of citizens and diplomatic representatives from the embattled country.
An Army Spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday that the United States (U.S.), Britain, France and China would begin evacuating from the capital Khartoum “in the coming hours” using military transport aircraft.
Al-Burhan has pledged to “facilitate and guarantee” the evacuation and to provide the countries with “the necessary support to ensure this,” the Spokesperson said.
A Saudi Arabian delegation has already been evacuated from the eastern city of Port Sudan, he said, adding that a Jordanian delegation was also to be flown out of Port Sudan later on Saturday.
The fighting between troops loyal to Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Daglo, commander of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), erupted on April 15, killing more than 400 people, igniting a humanitarian catastrophe, and raising fears of a prolonged and unpredictable civil war.
The battles continues to rage in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere .
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in a statement by its Spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel, said the committee, which consists of professional emergency responders, search and rescue experts, “will constantly evaluate the situation and seek for the safest way to evacuate the Nigerian citizens even if it is through a country neigbouring Sudan.”
The agency said it is in “constant communication with all relevant partners including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and security agencies while seeking for an appropriate window of opportunity to evacuate all stranded Nigerians back home in a safe and dignified manner.”
It noted that the current emergency situation in Sudan is very complex with fighting between waring factions going on and all airports and land boarders closed.
However, NEMA said it is working with all its partners and is constantly compiling updated information on the situation.
The Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed, also said that the agency is very much concerned and is working on all possible options of bringing the stranded Nigerians back home to their loved ones in safe and dignified manner.
