FG Approves $1.2m For Evacuation Of Nigerians From Sudan

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved $1.2million dollars for the immediate evacuation of Nigerians stranded in war torn Sudan.

Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, disclosed this while addressing State House correspondents on the outcome of the Council’s meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to Onyeama, the amount will be spent on the hiring of luxury buses that will transport the stranded Nigerians from Khartoum, the Sudanese capital to Egypt, from where they will be airlifted to Nigeria.

He said: “Just to provide an update on what is happening with regards to the evacuation of Nigerians in Sudan.

”You recall that the main challenge we had was first of all securing the authorization of the Sudanese Government and then security support for the convoy.

“This is because it has been decided that we will transport or convey Nigerians to the Egyptian border, Aswan.

”We are liaising with our embassy in Egypt as well; so we have been able to overcome these challenges and we have started the process which we are very happy about.

“$1.2 million dollars is what we’re being charged for all the 40 buses. We have huge transporter luxury buses made available to us to transport our citizens to the Egyptian border.

”Of course you know, because of the risks involved and so many other things, a lot of people are going to also take advantage.

”We saw that the French convoy was attacked and so forth. It was difficult procuring these buses. But we had to do it because you know Nigerian lives matter to us.”

Also commenting on the matter, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, disclosed that no Nigerian life had been lost in Sudan since the conflict broke out on April 15.