NiDCOM Boss Honorable Abike Dabiri- Erewa says that Nigerians stranded in Khartoum will be evacuated to safe borders beginning from Tuesday.
She was speaking in a telephone interview on BBC Radio where she gave the assurance that arrangements have been made for the first set of Buses to live Khartoum Tuesday as the safety of every Nigerian in the war torn country is paramount to the Federal Government. She disclosed that the buses will head first to safer borders from where they will be airlifted back home.
‘’We are hoping that by tomorrow, the first set of Buses will be leaving Khartoum heading towards some borders in Cairo basically Luzo and Aswan, to evacuate the first set to a safe place where we can now airlift them back home to Nigeria safely. And that is the key word. ‘’
She also explained that there was need to get the permission of the Military on both sides so as not to jeopardize the safety of the students as they total well over 3,500 in number.
‘’Imagine seeing ten buses without any security, we will be putting them in harm’s way. So we want to ensure first and foremost that there is safety and security. And tomorrow morning they will be on their way to two borders in Egypt where they will be in a safe location until they are conveyed back home. ‘’
The NiDCOM Boss also disclosed that some have found their way to Ethiopia as several have been documented to have arrived the Ethiopian borders. She explained that at some point there were issues of not been able to get through the borders but that the Nigerian Mission in Ethiopia has contacted the Ethiopian Government and the borders would have been opened already.
‘’Our Ministry of foreign affairs have contacted both sides of the divide and we have asked for a safe corridor for our students and that means giving them security. The idea is that whatever side of the divide you are, Nigerian students must be safe. And this is more critical to us than rushing. So we want to ensure that we are not taking them from danger to grave danger ‘’
