Nigeria’s largest airline, Air Peace, has indicated interest to evacuate Nigerians who are stranded in Sudan free of charge amidst the escalating fight in the country.
The Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, Allen Onyema while expressing his willingness, stated that Nigerian students and others stranded in the war torn nation have urgent “needs for help.”
The Air Peace chairman said if the Nigerians could be moved to a neigbouring country, the airline would fly there and evacuate them, as Sudan’s airspace is closed for civil aviation flights.
The Air Peace Chairman who also carried out similar evacuation of stranded Nigerians in South Africa in 2019 during the Xenophobic attacks, said he is compelled to help because Nigeria cannot afford to lose her citizens in that country.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, on Sunday said the federal government would begin the evacuation of stranded Nigerians in conflict-torn Sudan within the next two days.
Thousands of Nigerians are in Sudan with 5,500 of them indicating interest to be evacuated to Nigeria.
Sudan’s fighting broke out April 15 between two commanders who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup to derail the nation’s transition to democracy.
The ongoing power struggle now between the Armed Forces Chief, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has millions of Sudanese cowering inside their homes, hiding from explosions, gunfire and looting.
Already, over 400 have been killed with thousands of others, including foreigners and UN staff injured while over 5000 Nigerians, mostly students, were said to have indicated interest to be evacuated while some of them are planning to relocate to Ethiopia.
In a statement, he added that he is committed to ensuring that the stranded Nigerians in the war-torn country are safe.
He said that everything must not be left for government alone, especially as the situation calls for immediate action.
“Again, Air Peace is willing to evacuate Nigerians stranded in Sudan free of charge if government can get them to a safe and secure airport in any of the neighbouring countries bordering Sudan. Everything must not be left for government and government alone. It will be a privilege and honour of tremendous pride that we will be out there to give every Nigerian stranded in Sudan a sense of pride and oneness in their country.
“We are very ready to do it immediately. No time wasting. Any action that would promote national pride, national cohesion, peace and unity, we are for it. Again, we have no apologies for believing in our nation and loving the nation despite certain national challenges.
“If they are moved to Kenya or Uganda or any other country, we will move in to get them out. Some parents have started calling on us to help. We are ready to do this again and again,” he said.