A total of 376, fleeing the insurrection in Sudan, were on Wednesday airlifted from Egypt, after days of being stranded at the Egyptian border, The PUNCH learnt.
The 376 were the first batch of evacuees who arrived Argeen border last week Wednesday, April 26, from the war-torn Sudan, for airlifting in Aswan, Egypt.
In an audio sent to the Nigerian in Diaspora Commission Situation Room on Wednesday, a Nigerian official explained the reasons for the delay in the airlifting of the stranded Nigerians who ought to have arrived in the country earlier on Wednesday.
The official explained that “Two aircraft, Air Peace and NAF C130, are supposed to airlift 350 passengers. Unfortunately, 26 additional persons sneaked into the buses. The Egyptian personnel were there. They counted and they found 376 Nigerians. They refused the 26 people to stay back at the airport and they also refused to allow Nigerian officials to take the 26 people back to the border.
“Now, they want everyone to leave neither will they allow them to go back to the border. The only option is to overload the aircraft. The pilots were consulted and they said they could not airlift more people and have plenty of luggage.”
Confirming the airlifting of the 376 persons on Wednesday, the Chairman, NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on her Twitter handle, wrote: “Finally, homeward-bound as the NAF C-130H aircraft has departed Aswan and is expected to touch down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja by 2340hrs (11.23pm) tonight.”
The stranded Nigerians had arrived Egyptian border from Khartoum, Sudan, on April 26, 2023, but the Egyptian authorities refused to allow them cross into their territory, leaving them stranded for seven days.
On Monday, Egypt gave Nigeria stringent conditions for stranded Nigerians to cross its border.
The conditions, according to the message, were: “Details and schedule of the aircraft; capacity of the aircraft; a strong pledge that once our citizens depart the border, they will be conveyed directly to the designated airport.
“Comprehensive list of the evacuees, with passport numbers; valid travel documents (passport or ETC; the presence of Nigeria Government officials at the points of embarkation. Standby buses that will immediately convey them to the airport.”
But on Tuesday, the Nigerian Ambassador to Egypt, Nura Rimi, announced that the first batch of evacuees were moved to the Egypt border.
Rimi said, “#TeamCairo has successfully moved our students from the Sudanese side to the Egyptian side of the Arqeel border.
“Priority was given to female students in the orderly movement of the 449 students across the border.
“The students are now being prepared for their departure to Abuja through Aswan Airport.
“With the arrival of Air Peace and the NAF Plane, the onward journey home begins soon after necessary documentation.”
Meanwhile, the second batch of evacuees arrived Port Sudan on Tuesday. Though the number is uncertain as at the time of filing this report, our correspondent gathered that over 3,000 stranded Nigerians are in Port Sudan.
