By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Authorities in Nigeria have announced plans to ensure that its citizens caught up in troubled Sudan are evacuated, as hundreds of people die in the crisis between the military and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary establishment.
The move is in response to the appeal by Nigerian students in Khartoum pleading that they be evacuated from the country currently facing water and energy crisis as a result of the fighting for which the United Nations has called for a ceasefire.
The country is witnessing hostilities between two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup: Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The capital, Khartoum and Darfur have been worst hit as thousands of people flee the country.
The Nigerian Government through the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) in response to the appeal says meetings are being held on the best approach to handle the evacuation.
Gabriel Odu, the spokesman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission in a statement on Thursday quoted the Commission’s Chairman/CEO, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, as saying that she has noted with concern the plight of Nigerian Students in Sudan over the escalation of hostilities.
The NIDCOM Boss further stated that the Commission has received the letter of SOLICITATION by Sudan chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), for possible evacuation of students especially those in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.
She assured that the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA) which is in charge of emergency evacuations, is consulting with the in Nigerian Mission in Sudan and other relevant agencies .
Ms. Dabiri-Erewa urged all Nigerian Students in Sudan as well as Nigerians living in Sudan to be security conscious and calm.
Thousands of residents are fleeing the country as fighting between the two security forces has killed about 200 people.
It has continued for a sixth day after a 24-hour truce collapsed.
Loud explosions and heavy gunfire were heard in the capital on Thursday morning, as witnesses said plumes of thick black smoke emanated from buildings around the army headquarters in central Khartoum.
