Sudanese Crisis: FEC Okays $1.2m For Evacuation of Trapped Nigerians

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved $1.2million dollars for the immediate evacuation of Nigerians trapped in the ongoing Sudanese crisis.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, stated this while addressing State House shortly after the council’s meeting on Wednesday in Abuja.

He noted that the money would be used to hire luxury buses that would convey stranded Nigerians from Khartoum, the Sudanese capital to Egypt, where they would be airlifted to Nigeria.

Onyeama said that the major challenge encountered in the evacuation of Nigerians was to secure the authorisation of the Sudanese government and security support for the convoy.

“This is because, it has been decided that we will transport or convey Nigerians to the Egyptian border, Aswan.

”We are liaising with our embassy in Egypt; so we have been able to overcome these challenges and have started the process which we are very happy about.

“$1.2 million dollars is what we were charged for all the 40 buses. We have huge luxury buses made available to us to transport our citizens to the Egyptian border," he added.

Onyeama disclosed that the French convoy was attacked, adding that there is a need to instill adequate security measures since Nigerians lives matter.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, disclosed that no Nigerian died in Sudan since the conflict broke out on April 15, 2023.

He pointed out that the evacuation is done in batches to ensure the safety of all Nigerians, expressing confidence that no Nigerian would die during the evacuation period.

Dada noted that the government is making every effort to evacuate as many Nigerians as possible during the 72-hour window provided by the Sudanese government.

On whether all Nigerians will be evacuated before the deadline, Dada said: “We have no problem about the 72 hour window because we have talked to all the authorities concerned and we are on the same page."

He hinted that some Nigerians were already evacuated by ship from Sudanese Port by the government of Saudi Arabia, adding that they would be picked up on arrival at Jedda.

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