The first set of Nigerian evacuees fleeing Sudan due to the outbreak of war arrived in Abuja in the late hours of 3rd May 2023, they were evacuated from Aswan Egypt. Nigerian commercial carrier Air Peace landed in the nation's capital at about 11:40 pm with 260 passengers while a Nigerian Airplane arrived a few minutes later with about 90 passengers, AFP reporters saw. In an audio sent to the Nigerian in the Diaspora Commission Situation Room on Wednesday, a Nigerian official explained the reasons for the delay in the airlifting of stranded Nigerians who ought to have arrived in the country earlier today.
The official explained, “Two aircraft, Air Peace and NAF C130, are supposed to airlift 350 passengers. Unfortunately, 26 additional persons sneaked into the buses. The Egyptian personnel were there. They counted and they found 376 Nigerians. They refused the 26 people to stay back at the airport and they also refused to allow Nigerian officials to take the 26 people back to the border.
“Now, they want everyone to leave. Neither will they allow them to go back to the border. The only option is to overload the aircraft. The pilots were consulted and they said they could not airlift more people and have plenty of luggage.”
The fighting in Sudan has killed at least 550 people, displaced tens of thousands, and triggered an exodus of foreigners and international staff. An initial convoy of 13 buses left Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Thursday for Egypt with a plan to fly to Nigeria on Friday, but the group was refused permission to cross the frontier.
Egyptian authorities on Monday agreed to let them cross after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari intervened, according to the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission. Another 20 buses prepared to evacuate hundreds more Nigerians still blocked in Sudan
That convoy would no longer travel to Egypt, but to Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea 675 kilometers (420 miles) from Khartoum, from where they should then fly back to Nigeria, a National Emergency Management Agency spokesperson told AFP.
Battles have raged in Sudan since April 15 when conflict erupted between the country’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who commands the regular army, and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
After both sides agreed to extend a three-day ceasefire, air raids, shootings, and explosions shook Khartoum, the capital, again on Monday.
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