Drama, Controversy as Nigerian Officials Involved in Evacuation Flee Sudan
By Boniface Ihiasota, USA
The fate of many Nigerians who are stranded in Sudan remains uncertain due to controversies surrounding the evacuation process.
According to Daily Trust, quoting a source familiar with the evacuation exercise said some of the Nigerians scheduled to be evacuated were abandoned by embassy officials who allegedly joined their families in Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
The closure of Sudanese airspace has also complicated the evacuation process, with flights meant to transport evacuees landing in Egypt and neighboring countries instead.
Recall that the Nigerian government had arranged for Sudanese evacuees to be transported by road to Cairo, where they would then board flights back to Nigeria.
The evacuation process commenced after warring factions in Sudan agreed to a three-day ceasefire.
However, drama began on Friday forthwith extension of ceasefire window by another three days as Nigerian officials are nowhere to be found.
The action has resulted to protest by Nigerians at the evacuation venue in Khartoum.
The protesters allegedly held a bureau de change operator named Ibrahim Abdallah hostage and subjected him to physical assault.
Abdallah was reported to have received a cash transfer to finance the journey and was also involved in bus provision.
In video and audio recordings now going viral, Abdallah revealed that the deposit amount was $250,000, which had been exhausted.
He disclosed that about 25 buses scheduled to transport other stranded Nigerians had withdrawn participation in the exercise, and the officials were unresponsive.
On Wednesday, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), stated that there were at least three million Nigerians in Sudan, but the Federal Government would evacuate as many as possible.
