Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, says the buses conveying Nigerians from conflict-ridden Sudan have continued their journey after a stop over drivers protested over payment issues.
She said this on Thursday in reaction to a crisis that occurred whereby buses stopped on the road as a result of logistics.
A Twitter user, Dr Ahmad Small @dr_ahmadsmall has posted a video of a woman and others lamenting that the buses stopped halfway in the desert for five hours for not disbursing one.
But, in a swift response, the NiDCOM boss said she contacted the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the matter has been resolved.
“I have just spoken to @nemanigeriadg. He confirmed the buses have continued their Journey and said whatever issues have been resolved,” Dabiri-Erewa wrote.
The Nigerian students had earlier been trapped in the Sudanese desert.
On Wednesday, the Nigerian government had said N150m was released for hiring 40 buses to convey some Nigerians from Sudan to Cairo in Egypt, from where they would be airlifted to Nigeria.
But some of the students being evacuated to safety shared bitter experiences about the journey.
An affected student, who did not disclose her identity, said the drivers have vowed not to continue the journey owing to lack of funds.
“Before we started this journey, we experienced different things. Can you believe that we have been stuck in this desert for 5 hours. We don’t know the situation we are in.
“We don’t have water. Our money has finished. Can you imagine? The drivers said they are not moving their buses because they have not been paid. We are stuck in the desert. We don’t have anything. We don’t even know where we are. We are in an unknown location and in a very big danger.”
