According to the Federal Government, $1.2 million was spent to send 40 buses to rescue at least 2,400 Nigerians stuck in Sudan.
Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced this to State House media shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock Villa’s Council Chambers in Abuja on Wednesday.
The hefty cost of the evacuation, according to Onyeama, was to provide security cover for the eight-hour drive from Luxol to Cairo and the eleven-hour voyage from Aswan to Cairo, Egypt.
Although the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces agreed to a cease-fire at midnight Monday, local media claimed that fighting had resumed on Wednesday, even as a hospital was bombarded.
Noting that no Nigerians were killed in the war, Onyeama stated that there had been no discussions about alternate plans for continued education for the evacuees, the most of whom are students at the University of Khartoum.
At least 40 buses were dispatched early Wednesday to transport Nigerians out of Khartoum and other dangerous areas of Sudan.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission revealed that the scheduled evacuation on Tuesday was canceled due to logistical issues.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Commission’s Chairperson, verified that the new travel plans were finalized Tuesday night.
“Last night, the Nigeria Evacuation team in Sudan received some buses to transport Nigerian Students to nearby borders in Egypt, before airlifting them to Nigeria,” she tweeted.
“More buses are arriving this morning, and the students who were stranded will depart today.”