The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) announced that the Nigerian government may begin evacuating its citizens from Sudan on Tuesday. The Chairman, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, disclosed this in an interview with BBC Africa on Monday, as fears grow for nationals caught in the conflict.
Dabiri-Erewa stated that it would be dangerous to evacuate thousands of people from a war-torn region without clearance from both factions involved. The plan is to transport them via buses from Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, to the borders in Cairo, Egypt, where they will be airlifted back to Nigeria.
Dabiri-Erewa explained that they were waiting to obtain permission from both the Sudanese military headed by Abdelfattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo. The conflict between the two factions has led to over 420 deaths, with millions displaced and a shortage of basic amenities in Khartoum, the Darfur region, and other areas.
The evacuation plans will ensure the safety and security of Nigerian citizens, including the 3,500 stranded Nigerian students in Sudan. According to Dabiri-Erewa, the students had attempted to flee via a dangerous route by paying fees to the Nigerian Association of Nigerian Students, but have since returned to base.
Some Nigerians have managed to make their way to Ethiopia, with seven documented cases, but it was not easy to get in. The Nigerian Mission in Sudan has contacted the authorities, and those in Ethiopia will be airlifted back to Nigeria along with those at the borders in Cairo.
The crisis group has attributed the renewed fighting to a dispute over how to integrate the RSF into regular army ranks, with both Burhan and Hemedti having foreign backing and unwilling to compromise.
