FG making arrangements to evacuate Nigerians from Sudan — Dabiri

…….AYCF expressed dismay over govt response

The federal government says it is making arrangements to evacuate Nigerians from Sudan.

Violent clashes between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have left over 270 dead and thousands injured.

Several Nigerians in the country have intensified calls on the government to rescue them.

Speaking on Saturday, chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said the tense situation in Sudan made it “risky and impossible for any flights at this point in time”.

In a statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Gabriel Odu, Dabiri-Erewa said the Nigerian mission in Sudan and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have put in place arrangements for the evacuation of students and others stranded in the country.

The NiDCOM chairman said aircraft parked at the airport were burnt.

She also said humanitarian groups were seeking ways of getting food, water and medicals across to people in the country.

The federal government had earlier assured Nigerians in the country of its commitment to rescue them.

Meanwhile, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has expressed dismay over the response of the Federal Government to the plight of Nigerians trapped in Sudan.

National President of the AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima in a statement, described the federal government’s explanation as totally unacceptable.

“As concerned Nigerians who are very uncomfortable with the fate of Nigerians trapped in Sudan due to ongoing war and killings, we feel duty bound to unequivocally state our final stand on this bloodshed and arson.”

“We, therefore, wish to state, for the records, as follows:It is totally unacceptable that while several countries were evacuating their citizens from Sudan, ours is the only African nation giving excuses.”

“With thousands of Nigerians in Sudan, especially male and female Northern students being the majority, we reject the lame excuse given in a letter by the Nigeria Embassy about the difficulty of evacuating our sons and daughters. No Northerner in this country is at peace since the killings and arson started in Sudan.”

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“We are aware that the Sudanese government had already warned that the situation would escalate, and gave 72 hours ultimatum for countries whose citizens are either doing business or schooling in that country to be evacuated. We cannot fathom why all we get at the moment is the excuse by our Embassy that doing so would be difficult. What held us from taking advantage of the 72 hours ultimatum in the first place?”

“It is abundantly clear that lives are now at stake, especially for our Northern brothers and sisters schooling in Sudan, considering the escalation of this war, that involves the use of heavy-duty incendiary.:

Shettima further stated that the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan would be held accountable should anything happened to any Nigerian in Sudan.

“As a group, we wish to make it categorically clear that if our innocent Northern brothers and sisters schooling in Sudan get killed in this war, we shall hold the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan accountable.”

“We wish to emphasize that on no account should these young and innocent Nigerians be left to their own devices, because they have a fatherland that has the constitutional and legal responsibility to protect the lives of citizens anywhere they are on this plane,” the group said.