The Federal Government announced on Friday that it had successfully evacuated every Nigerian who had been left behind in the unstable capital of Sudan, Khartoum.
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs’ Permanent Secretary, Dr. Sani Gwarzo, made this statement as he welcomed the second group of 130 evacuees at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The refugees arrived at the Pilgrims Terminal of the airport at precisely 3:10 pm local time on board TARCO aircraft B373-300 from Port Sudan, according to The News Agency of Nigeria.
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“I’m delighted to report that we have successfully removed everyone who needed to be removed from Khartoum; none of your current coworkers are still in Khartoum.
“You were the first group to leave Khartoum and be taken to the Egyptian border; some of them are still with us, while others have already made it to Nigeria.
However, most of them will arrive in the following eight or more hours, so at that point, no Nigerian will still be at the Egyptian border, according to Gwarzo.
He claimed that Port Sudan provided an airlift for the second round of evacuees.
However, we have sufficient plans in place for everyone to be flown within the upcoming several days.
“We have about 1,700 people there, and we have planned enough aircraft to get them back home.
The good news, he stated, “is that no lives have been lost.”
According to Gwarzo, just two of the 130 evacuees are men; the remainder are women and children.
He gave the people the assurance that the team would continue to give women, children, and those who are ill among them priority.
Women and children will continue to be given priority until everyone has been released, according to Gwarzo.
But he added that the N100,000 allowance provided to the evacuees was a life-saving support for those leaving a difficult environment.
“Some of you may have had problems, or even all of you, but the trauma will soon be past when you are reunited with your family.
In light of this, he stated, “We welcome you back home and look forward to peace returning not only in Sudan but also in all of Africa and the world.”
All Nigerians who need evacuation, according to Mr. Mustapha Ahmed, Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, have been taken to Port Sudan and Egypt and are awaiting transport back to Nigeria.
Since we already have airplanes on the ground, we have roughly 800 evacuees traveling toward Aswan on the Egyptian side.
“We have the Max Air, which has a 560-passenger capacity, and the Azman Air, which has a 400-passenger capacity. We have also activated Air Peace, and we are awaiting their reaction today.
While Taco Airline will continue to operate four flights as planned today, Air Peace will depart Port Sudan on two flights.
The only issue we had, he claimed, was diplomatic in nature. As of right now, he added, “all of them are safe in Port Sudan and Egyptian side.”
The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons’ Director of Migration Affairs, Mrs. Catherine Udoifa, continued by stating that the commission would also be offering psycho-social support to the returnees.
The youngsters among them are being profiled; we will make some referrals and work with the Ministry of Education to place them in schools as needed.
He explained, “We have a team that will give psychosocial support to all the students and follow up on them to make sure that they are properly adapted and able to leave a normal life.”
The federal government and all the authorities engaged in their successful homecoming were commended by Ms. Sumaiya Yusuf, a student at Sudan International University.
We spent a week on the trip, traveling to the pick-up locations, waiting for buses, and spending time in the sun.
We had some communication issues with the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan, she added, “but I’m glad to be back home,” despite the fact that we were delayed for over a day on the way to Port Sudan. (NAN)
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