Amid ongoing conflict in Sudan, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) says the Nigerian Embassy in Egypt has successfully moved evacuees from the Sudanese side to the Egyptian side of the Arqeel Border.
The commission on Tuesday evening stated further that the students were being prepared for their departure to Abuja through the Aswan Airport in Egypt.
Channels Television reports that as of 10:15 pm, AirPeace and the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) plane deployed to airlift the evacuees were waiting to convey the students to Abuja after necessary documentation.
According to the commission, priority is being given to female students in “orderly movement” of the 449 students across the border.
The Chairman of the commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said the first batch was expected to arrive “in a couple of hours”.
She added that the team at Abu Simbel would be evacuating the Wadi Halfa group on Wednesday morning and those at the Port Sudan border — the third group — would be evacuated last because they had just arrived today Tuesday.
Alleged Discrimination
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Tuesday, responded to a viral video on social media of a man claiming that the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan had refused to evacuate people of Igbo extraction from Sudan.
The ministry, in a statement by spokesperson Mrs Francisca K. Omayuli, said after investigation, it could assure Nigerians that there was “no truth whatsoever” to the allegation.
“The Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum confirmed that evacuees of Igbo extraction were among the first batch of 637 Nigerians evacuated to Aswan Border, Egypt where they are presently awaiting their eventual return to Nigeria,” it said.
“In addition, the Embassy noted that before the commencement of the movement of buses deployed for the evacuation exercise in Khartoum, there were scuffles between the students and other Nigerian residents due to the limited number of buses.
“However, more buses were made available to accommodate every Nigerian national in Sudan who indicated interest to be evacuated.”
The ministry argued it was surprising that an allegation it described as “misleading” could be levelled against officials of the embassy who had worked “tirelessly” on the evacuation exercise.
“To this end, the general public is advised to disregard the allegation,” it added.