• Issues resolved, journey continued, NiDCOM boss affirms
• ‘Expect arrival today via Air Peace airline’
S Nigerians being evacuated by the Federal Government from crisis-torn Sudan have complained that they were stranded in the desert for hours as bus drivers conveying them protested poor logistics arrangement.
Chairman of the Nigerian Community (Elders Forum) in Sudan, Dr. Hashim Na’Allah, said: “People are hungry and there is no concrete information from either the embassy or the committee in charge of the buses.”
President of the Jigawa State Students Association in Sudan, Umar Abubakar, said: “We are disappointed in everything. We have been outside under the sun, since 5:00 a.m., waiting for the buses. Not even one official from the embassy is around. Those people are just playing us along.”
He said: “Even those that left for Egypt yesterday (Wednesday) are now stranded on their way, because the drivers said they have not been paid, and that they are not moving an inch until they are paid, or else they would drop the students there and return.”
A Twitter user, Dr. Ahmad Small @dr_ahmadsmall, had posted a video of a woman and others lamenting that the buses stopped halfway in the desert for five hours.
But Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said, yesterday, that the buses conveying Nigerians have continued their journey after a stop.
The NiDCOM boss said she contacted the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and that the matter had been resolved.
“I have just spoken to @nemanigeriadg. He confirmed the buses have continued their journey and said whatever issues have been resolved,” she wrote. Dabiri-Erewa disclosed that 13 buses bringing back about 1,500 Nigerians from Sudan are expected to arrive soon in Aswan, Egypt.
Also, the NiDCOM boss told reporters in Abuja, yesterday: “Thirteen buses will soon be arriving. That is what I am going to address now. As I speak to you, we are expecting about 1,500 Nigerians.
“Air Peace would be leaving tonight from Nigeria to pick them up from Egypt and bring them back safely to Nigeria by tomorrow.”The Director, Special Duties, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Dr. Onimode Bandele, also said the next batch of Nigerians to leave Sudan for Egypt was already boarding buses.
He said: “Nigerians already know we hired 40 buses. So, if 13 left today, it will be the turn of the next batch. And as I speak to you, the next batch is loading already.
“So, until we finish loading, I will not be able to confirm how many buses have left because I don’t tell lies to the press.”
