About 5,500 Nigerian students in Sudan will be evacuated due to the violence in the North African country.
The chairperson of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri Erewa said this Thursday at the weekly ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team.
She said there are over three million Nigerians residing in Sudan and efforts are being made to evacuate as many of them as possible, if the war persists. Priority will, however, be given to children, students and women, she said.
The NIDCOM Chair also said 13 buses carrying Nigerians have departed Sudan for the Egyptian border Aswan, from where the returnees would be airlifted back to Nigeria. The first batch are expected in Nigeria today, Friday, her spokesperson quoted her as saying at the briefing.
She allayed the fears that the buses conveying the Nigerians would be attacked by either of the two factions fighting in Sudan, saying the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, already secured the understanding of the leaders of the factions before the transportation of Nigerians by road.
Dabiri-Erewa also said it is time for Nigeria to focus more on Nigerians in Sudan and other parts of Africa because there are many of them residing there.
She said as the evacuees return to Nigeria, they will be given stipends to help them settle down before joining their families.
