Nidcom initiates plans to evacuate Nigerians trapped in Sudan as civil war rages there

NIGERIANS in Diaspora Commission (Nidcom) chairman Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa has initiated plans to evacuate all the Nigerians living in Sudan following the outbreak of a civil war on the country.

Over the last week, Sudan’s army and paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been involved in a brutal  war with more than 400 people killed so far. With heavy fighting in the capital Khartoum, foreign expatriates are preparing to flee, with the Sudanese army saying it was coordinating efforts to evacuate diplomats from the US, Britain, China and France out of the country on military aeroplanes.

Diplomats and their families from Saudi Arabia have already made it out of Sudan and Jordanian nationals are expected to leave this weekend. With Sudan’s main international airport closed, foreign countries have ordered their citizens to simply shelter in a safe place until they can figure out evacuation plans.

Aware of how dangerous the situation is now becoming, Hon Dabiri-Erewa said Nidcom is making arrangements to evacuate Nigerians from Sudan. She explained that it is impossible for any flights to leave at this time but added that the Nigerian mission in Sudan and the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) had put evacuation arrangements in place.

Hon Dabiri-Erewa said that the tense situation in Sudan made it risky and impossible for any flights at this point in time as even aircraft parked at the airport have been burnt. However, she said humanitarian groups were seeking ways of getting food, water and medicals across to people trapped in the country.

She appealed to the warring parties to consider the Juba Peace Agreement announced by Intergovernmental Authority on Development. According to Hon Dabiri-Erewa, that agreement was a fundamental mechanism for the restoration of peace and tranquillity in the country.

On Thursday, Sudan’s military and the RSF separately announced a 24-hour ceasefires but hostilities continued past the deadline. For now, however, the intensity of the fighting has dropped significantly, with a lull on Saturday morning.

Sudan's conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between rival factions of the military government, which began on April 15 when clashes broke out, mainly in the capital city of Khartoum and the Darfur region. Fighting has intensified around the capital’s airport, closing its airspace and near hospitals, hampering evacuation efforts and the treatment of the wounded.