•It’s dangerous to evacuate our 5,500 citizens without clearance, says Fed Govt
•U.S., UK, France, Russia move out nationals
The armed conflict in Sudan is taking its toll on Nigerians studying in tertiary institutions in the war-ravaged country.
Stranded students yesterday narrated their ordeal as fighting intensified in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.
While some were forced to remain indoors, almost being cut off from food and medical supplies, some have fled the capital, but are stranded at the borders.
Many others are staying indoors mostly in fear, as directed by the Nigerian Embassy, to await information on their evacuation.
Over 420 people have died in the war so far, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffery Onyeama, last night said about 5,500 Nigerians were ready for evacuation.
He said the government was only awaiting safety clearance from its Sudanese counterpart to take them out through land borders because the Khartoum airport is a battleground for the army factions fighting for supremacy.
The minister said 80 per cent of 5,500 Nigerians in the country are students.
Pope Francis renewed calls for dialogue between warring military factions.
A Nigerian student, Sofia Idris Sefiu, in a viral video, said the situation was getting worse.
She said: “We fled from Khartoum because my sister was sick and there were no hospitals. We came to the border. On our way, we saw a lot of Sudanese fleeing Khartoum. What of us Nigerian students?
“By 10:00 pm at night, we reached the border of Ethiopia and Sudan in Gallabat. We slept there and yesterday (Saturday), we entered the border.
“Sudanese border immigration said they were going to stamp the exit stamp for us and then, the Ethiopian border said they were not going to let us pass unless we have visas to enter Ethiopia and we didn’t have it.
“The Nigerian embassy in Sudan is really trying its best. We talked to them. They sent a letter for us, but the people at the border said they were not going to let us in, unless with a visa.
“They sent us back to Gadarif, another location near the border. We went to the consulate for a visa. They said they were not going to stamp the visa for us; they were only stamping for the Sudanese. Right now we are stranded at Gadarif.”
Sefiu said the Seriki Hausawa of Gadarif, Memataba Haruna, provided them with accommodation as hotels are not available.
“He took us in like his children; he fed us. He gave us a place to sleep, a very peaceful place.
“Right now, today (yesterday) is our third day. We have applied for an online visa. They said it is not going to come out anytime soon because of the Eid holiday. So, we are basically stranded at the border,” she said.
Another student, who spoke to Aljazeera Television, recounted how for the past one week they had been forced to remain indoors without food and water.
He added that missiles and bullets were flying from all directions, with some of them landing close to where they were hiding.
He said it was difficult for anybody to step out because of the insecure environment, adding: “Shops are not open for people to say they want to go and buy food. Even if there are places to buy things, there is no cash.”
Another student said she and many of her colleagues were stranded in Khartoum.
She said: “Please, if you are in Khartoum, don’t go out alone; it is very serious and very risky. In case you have to go out for food or something, go out in groups.”
A female student, Fauziya Idris Safiyo, fled Khartoum and reached Gallabat, a border town between Sudan and Ethiopia.
“There was no food, no water, no medicine. We can’t travel. No money. Miscreants were having a field day.
“We, Nigerians, were the only ones left. There were many females among us. Officials of neighbouring countries like Ethiopia were not allowing Nigerians to cross over to their country unless we have visas.
“It was a harrowing and terrifying experience. What we saw on the way was frightening. We saw lots of soldiers; they stopped us at several checkpoints.
“Ethiopian officials asked for $50 before they would give us a visa. They were only allowing Sudanese nationals.
“We called our Nigerian Ambassador and he sent a letter. They did not recognise or honour the letter. They were uncooperative because of the precarious situation we found ourselves in.”
Our efforts to rescue them
Onyeama said the evacuation of stranded Nigerians from Sudan will begin today.
Speaking on Channels Sunday Politics, he said the Nigerian government was waiting on the Sudanese government’s authorisation.
Onyeama said due to the dangers posed to air travel in the North African country, the only option left for the evacuation was to go through the road in convoy.
The minister said: “We have been working round the clock to get Nigerians out of Sudan.
“First, we have an embassy there and we have directed it to put up a platform that all stranded Nigerians can log into and to coordinate the process.
“Due to the risk associated with their airport at the moment, the only viable option left for us now is leaving the country by road. But that, unfortunately, is not safe. We need the Sudan government to provide some form of security to get out from there.
“Essentially, where we are at the moment is trying to get authorisation from the Sudanese government to undertake this long journey and for them to provide some security.”
According to Onyeama, road transportation was the safer option. “We don’t want to take any risk with any Nigerian’s life.
“On Saturday, the French government in a bid to evacuate their citizens came under fire; they were attacked and they had to turn back. We don’t want that to happen to us.
“So, we are in touch with the highest level of government in Sudan to get a safe corridor for us to evacuate our people and they have confirmed receipt of our letter.”
The minister said the Nigerian government was considering evacuating her citizens either through the Egyptian border, Port Sudan or the Ethiopian border.
He dismissed those accusing the Muhammadu Buhari administration of insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians calling for help in Sudan.
“I don’t agree that Nigeria has been sluggish in the evacuation process. It will be unfair to say we should have the foresight of evacuating our citizens.”
The minister hopes the evacuation exercise will commence either today or tomorrow.
Onyeama said: “At the moment, by Monday, we could start hiring cars, and buses to commence evacuation, but this will be putting their lives at risk and no responsible government will do that.
“What we need at this moment is for the Sudanese government to give us that assurance that we can drive in convoy to the border of our choice and once we get that, we are ready to go.
“We are hoping that either by Monday or Tuesday, the approval for the evacuation will come or the exercise will commence.
“We are also talking to the Egyptian government for their understanding for the purpose of evacuating our people from Sudan.”
The minister said no country envisaged that the crisis in Sudan will be of such magnitude.
“Nobody anticipated the Sudan crisis would escalate. All countries are taken by surprise and act in the same manner to evacuate their citizens.
“Some countries engaging the Sudanese are even being accused of backing either of the warring parties which makes evacuation difficult to achieve.
“It is unfair to criticise the Nigerian government for not doing enough. The security of the lives of Nigerians is the government’s utmost priority,” he said.
How the war is unfolding
Pope Francis renewed calls for dialogue between warring military factions in Sudan as the fighting entered a second week.
“Unfortunately, the situation remains grave in Sudan.
“That is why I am renewing my call for the violence to stop as quickly as possible and for dialogue to resume,” the pontiff said during traditional Sunday prayers in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.
“I invite everyone to pray for our Sudanese brothers and sisters,” he added.
The clashes are between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The leaders of the two forces were allies, having worked together in 2019 to overthrow Sudan’s dictator Omar al-Bashir, who ruled over the country for three decades.
In 2021, al-Burhan, who had become chief of the power-sharing council, dissolved it, declaring he would instead hold elections this year.
The current fighting broke out between the army and the RSF as a result of negotiation break-down over how to integrate the two forces ahead of restoration of civilian rule.
There was disagreement over which General would be subordinate to the other, and how quickly the RSF would be incorporated into the Sudanese military.
Al-Bashir’s whereabouts are unknown
Al-Bashir’s whereabouts are currently unknown after the RSF attacked the Kober Prison in Khartoum on Sunday evening and freed thousands of inmates.
Eyewitnesses say heavily armed RSF troops stormed the prison, firing shots and throwing grenades to break through the gates.
They then began releasing prisoners, including several high-profile individuals who were being held on charges of corruption and other crimes such as the 1989 government takeover.
It is unclear whether Al Bashir, who has been held in Kober Prison since he was ousted from power in a military coup in April 2019, was among those released.
The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors and Sudan’s Doctors Union have estimated that 70 per cent, or 39 out of 59 hospitals, in Khartoum and nearby states had to cease operations.
The WHO warned that hospitals were running out of blood, medical equipment and supplies.
Within hours of the initial fighting, about 200 staff members and 150 patients at Al-Moalem Medical City were trapped as heavy artillery rained down on the hospital, destroying large sections of the complex and forcing everyone towards the ground floor.
According to Asim Abaro, a 30-year-old doctor in Omdurman, many hospitals have been forced to remain closed because their medical supplies have run out and their oxygen stations have been destroyed.
U.S., UK, France, Russia evacuate citizens
Foreign governments have commenced evacuation of their diplomats, staff and others trapped in Sudan.
While world powers like the U.S. and Britain airlifted their diplomats from the capital of Khartoum, Sudanese desperately sought to flee the chaos.
Many risked dangerous roads to seek safer spots or crossed the northern frontier into Egypt.
But, Britons trapped in the north-eastern African country have accused their government of ‘abandoning’ them as they prepare a ‘surgical’ evacuation of diplomatic officials from the country.
Oliver Dowden said yesterday morning that the situation was ‘complex’ and rapidly moving but Labour’s Jon Ashworth questioned ‘why our Government is not acting in the same way that other governments are acting’.
Last night, the UK began drawing up plans for a military airlift of a dozen British diplomats as well as their families from the embassy in the capital, Khartoum.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said yesterday afternoon that British diplomats have all been evacuated from Sudan.
“UK armed forces have completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan, amid a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff,” he wrote on Twitter.
Trapped civilians from the UK said it had taken five days for the embassy to contact them with a telephone number they could use to register with the foreign office.
The U.S. troops have carried out the precarious evacuation of US Embassy staffers, a senior Biden administration official said.
The troops who airlifted the staff out of Khartoum have safely left Sudanese airspace, a second US official confirmed.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud via phone on Sunday to discuss the ongoing situation in Sudan.
“We share concerns on military escalation,” Borrell wrote on Twitter, adding that they had “agreed to continue to collectively push for an immediate ceasefire.”
Egypt also said it was launching its operation to evacuate its nationals from “safe areas in Sudan.” Evacuations would take place in coordination with Sudanese authorities.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry called on nationals outside Khartoum to head to the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, or the Nile bank city of Wadi Halfa near the Egyptian border, in preparation for an evacuation mission.
It advised nationals stuck in Khartoum to stay at home until the security situation improves and they can be evacuated.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia evacuated 150 individuals from Port Sudan via the Red Sea, including Egyptians.
Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said on Twitter that her country was conducting operations in cooperation with France and the Netherlands to evacuate European nationals “as quickly as possible.”
Lahbib also called on people in Sudan who have not yet contacted their diplomatic services to do so quickly. “All our services are mobilized to help them,” she said.
