Nigerian evacuees to start arriving Friday; 5,500 students expected

About 5,500 Nigerian students from Sudan will be evacuated due to violence in the North African country, an official said.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, said this Thursday at the weekly meeting organized by the Presidential Communications Group.

He said over three million Nigerians live in Sudan and efforts are being made to evacuate most of them if the war continues. Priority, however, will be given to children, students and women, he said.

According to Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa, 13 buses carrying Nigerians have left Sudan for the Aswan border in Egypt, from where they would be flown back to Nigeria. The first batch is expected in Nigeria today, Friday, his spokesman said in a nutshell.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that the Nigerian government had earlier announced that it had loaned 40 buses for the evacuation. The buses cost $1.2 million, an official said Wednesday.

“We have some buses that have left from the African International University in Khartoum (Sudan) and as I speak, I think it is about two hours from Aswan in Cairo,” Ms Dabiri-Erewa said on Thursday. “Others started from Elrazi University in Khartoum as well. In all, 13 buses have left for the Aswan border in Egypt, where they will be welcomed by the Nigerian ambassador and the Director General of the National Emergency Agency (NEMA), Habib Ahmed, along with some officials who are already there.”

He allayed fears that the buses carrying the Nigerians would be attacked by one of Sudan’s two warring factions, saying Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama had ensured the understanding of the factional leaders before transporting the Nigerians by road. .

PREMIUM TIMES reported how fighting broke out on April 15 between the Sudanese army and RSF paramilitaries, both led by army generals. As a result of the violence, more than 400 people have died and several counties, including the United States and Saudi Arabia, have begun the evacuation of their citizens.

Diaspora vote

Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa also said it is time for Nigeria to pay more attention to Nigerians in Sudan and other parts of Africa because many of them live there.

“When we were talking about the diaspora vote, some people said that when we do that, it might not be good to expect. But we said no, we have to go to places like Sudan, where we have millions of Nigerians who migrated there and have relationships and businesses there.

“The data is being worked on, but I want to categorically tell you that when we finish the research we are doing, Sudan would probably be one of the biggest areas where we have the highest concentration of Nigerians in the Diaspora. Whenever we focus on Europe, America and all that, it is time to focus on Africa and Africans in the Diaspora,” he said.

Nigerian laws currently do not allow citizens of the Diaspora to vote. However, it has been claimed that the laws must be changed. The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, is one of those who have urged Nigerians in the Diaspora to vote.

Subsidies for returnees

Ms Dabiri-Erewa said as the evacuees return to Nigeria, financial aid will be provided to them to help them settle before being reunited with their families.

“NEMA will decide what will be given to the translators, because the funding is from the Ministry of Human Affairs and Disaster Management. It’s usually just a small amount. The last one, we evacuated the people we gave them, we gave them $100. So it depends on the budget they have.

“But we at NIDCOM give them recharge cards, SIM cards and sometimes phones. They usually get $100 to support them and these are students who go back to their families. They are not refugees, they have houses”, he emphasized.

He also said that the challenges related to the evacuation process are already being resolved. He called on NEMA to establish rapid response squads in all parts of the country and in the diaspora to help resolve unforeseen situations.

“I think going forward, it is very important for NEMA to have Rapid Response Regions in all parts of Nigeria with military formations and then military attachés in the diaspora. These teams must be really established. When a crisis occurs, you must not walk,” said the NIDCOM President.