As trapped Nigerian students described their “catastrophic” experiences, the Nigerian Federal Government has failed to begin the evacuation of stranded Nigerians from conflict-torn Sudan on Tuesday as promised.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, had, on Sunday, said the evacuation would commence by Tuesday.
Over 80 per cent of Nigerians in Sudan are students, according to Onyeama.
Hundreds of people have been killed since the crisis broke out some 10 days ago in Sudan’s capital between the forces of the two rival generals.
In a chat with our correspondent last night, President, National Association of Nigerian Students in Sudan, Abubakar Babangida, said the evacuation of stranded Nigerians in the troubled country had not commenced.
While complaining that the communication network in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, had been bad, Babangida said he was not sure when the evacuation of the stranded Nigerian students would take place.
He, however, acknowledged that efforts were being made by the Nigerian government to rescue the stranded students.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government Tuesday released the numbers for the evacuation exercise of the stranded Nigerians in Sudan.
A joint statement by Geoffrey Onyeama and Sadiya Faruk, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development respectively, urged parents to advise their wards to be calm as concerted efforts were being made to evacuate all Nigerians stranded in Sudan.
The statement, signed by the Permanent Secretaries of the two Ministries, also advised Nigerian students to maintain constant communication with the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan for further directives.
The statement advised all Nigerian nationals to guard against undertaking the treacherous journey to the borders on their own, in view of the dangers involved.
“Nigerian Embassy officials in Sudan can be reached through the following numbers: +2348035866773, +249961956284, +2348063636862, +249961956274, and +2349066663493,” the statement added.
Three of the trapped students, Lukman Abdulhayatu, Bilyaminu Muhammad and Bashiru Achida, spoke with Channels Television virtually on Tuesday,
One of the students, Abdulhayatu said he “woke up on Saturday morning with heavy bombings and fire everywhere”.
“It is catastrophic. I don’t know how to describe it. It is something that we have not seen before; we only saw it in the movies.”
“We are at a location far away, where there is less violence,” he said, adding that some other students are leaving their hostels and apartments for safe locations.
Narrating his experience, Muhammad said, “Early morning on the 15th of this month, we woke up to this terrible war. I have never heard the sound of a gun in my life, only in Sudan. This is my first experience. I had only seen it in the movies.
“I have been in my room for three days because you are not sure what will happen if you go out there. Many people break their legs while trying to escape to nearby villages.”
Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama had said that Nigerians stranded in Sudan will be evacuated by road as airports are being bombed. He had also said the evacuation would be commenced by Tuesday.
“We have been given the cost estimate and all the details. They gave us a figure of 5,500 who are ready for evacuation,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
“Obviously, what you need in a situation like this is a place where everybody can congregate before you start moving them out. Because the airports, as you pointed out in your report, it is out of commission. The only viable way out is by road.”
Originally reported in Daily Trust, Channels TV