UPDATED:Sudan Crisis: Finally, 354 Nigerian evacuees touch down in Abuja
…274 on Air Peace flight
…80 on Airforce Hercules
…Returnees get N100,000 each
A total of 354 Nigerians caught in the factional fighting which broke out in the Sudan a fortnight ago, have finally been flown back home in the first batch of a resue mission.
The evacuees touched down at the Abuja Airport tarmac at close to midnight, Wednesday aboard two aircraft, an Air Peace Airbus with 274 passengers and a Nigerian Air Force Hercules C-130 turbo-prop transporter, carrying 80 passengers. The flights took off from Egypt following a crossing by bus from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
The number of stranded Nigerians slated for evacuation from Sudan is 5,500. Following the return of 354 midnight Wednesday, there remain 5,146 awaiting evacuation back home to Nigeria.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Farouk; the Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa; and the Director General of the National Management Emergency Agency (NEMA), Ahmed Mustapha, were at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja to receive them.
According to Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairperson Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), no Nigerian is left in Khartoum.This implies that the shortfall of 5,146 Nigerians have been safefly delivered to Egypt from the fighting in Sudan and will be flown back home in the days to come.
Farouk said the returnees would be given N100,000 each to enable them settle in, adding that a full press briefing on the issues surrounding the evacuation had been scheduled for later on Thursday.
Ahmed Mustapha of NEMA said four aircraft were expected to arrive Niggeria on Thursday, adding that they would convey almost 400 more persons. According to him, Azman Air has joined Air Peace in the evacuation effort.
