The Federal Government did not begin the evacuation of stranded Nigerians from conflict-torn Sudan on Tuesday as promised.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, had, on Sunday, said the evacuation would commence by Tuesday.
Hundreds of people have been killed since the crisis broke out some 10 days ago in Sudan’s capital between the forces of the two rival generals.
Over 80 per cent of Nigerians in Sudan are students, according to Onyeama.
In a chat with our correspondent last night, President, National Association of Nigerian Students in Sudan, Abubakar Babangida, said the evacuation of stranded Nigerians in the troubled country had not commenced.
While complaining that the communication network in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, had been bad, Babangida said he was not sure when the evacuation of the stranded Nigerian students would take place.
He, however, acknowledged that efforts were being made by the Nigerian government to rescue the stranded students.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government Tuesday released the numbers for the evacuation exercise of the stranded Nigerians in Sudan.
A joint statement by Geoffrey Onyeama and Sadiya Faruk, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development respectively, urged parents to advise their wards to be calm as concerted efforts were being made to evacuate all Nigerians stranded in Sudan.
The statement, signed by the permanent secretaries of the two ministries, also advised Nigerian students to maintain constant communication with the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan for further directives.
The statement advised all Nigerian nationals to guard against undertaking the treacherous journey to the borders on their own, in view of the dangers involved.
“Nigerian Embassy officials in Sudan can be reached through the following numbers: +2348035866773, +249961956284, +2348063636862, +249961956274, and +2349066663493,” the statement added.
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