*Says those coming by road won’t be attacked by warlords
By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The Chairman/ CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa on Thursday, hinted that the first batch of stranded Nigerians in Sudan evacuated by the Federal Government will arrive Abuja, Nigeria tomorrow, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
According to a statement by the Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit NIDCOM, Abuja, Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Hon Dabiri- Erewa dropped this hint at a State House briefing .
Hon Dabiri- Erewa said a total of 13 out of the 40 buses hired to transport Nigerians from the troubled Sudan already left since Wednesday and moved by road to border town of Aswan in Egypt, where both the Embassy staff in Egypt and the DG NEMA will receive the evacuees.
The Chairman/ CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) stressed that 10 of those buses transported Nigerians from universities in Khartoum, while the remaining three buses were dispatched to El- Razi University to convey them to the boarder town in Egypt.
Commenting on allegations of segregation and discrimination in the evacuation process, she said children and women were given priority as they were profiled for administrative purposes.
While stressing that a boeing 777 from Airpeace will depart Lagos by evening of yesterday and will transport the first batch home on today, the NIDCOM boss assured Nigerians that all those who registered to be evacuated home will be facilitated irrespective of status, gender and state.
Clarifying that besides the huge population of Nigeria students in Sudan, there are millions of other Nigerians in the country doing their legitimate business and residing there peacefully.
Hon Dabiri-Erewa allayed the fears of being attacked by the warlords, saying the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama already secured the understanding of the two warlords before the transportation of Nigerians by road.
