Gwamcee News
Air Peace, a private airline in Nigeria has expressed its readiness to evacuate stranded Nigerians in Sudan, North-East Africa for free if the Federal Government can get them to a safe and secure airport in any of the neighbouring countries bordering Sudan.
This was disclosed in a statement on Monday by the Chairman and Chief Executive Office of the airline, Allen Onyema.
He noted that Nigerian students and others stranded in the war-ravaged nation have urgent needs for help.
Onyema said he is compelled to help because Nigeria cannot afford to lose her citizens in that country, adding that it would be his own commitment to making sure that the stranded Nigerians in the war-torn country are safe.
“Again, Air Peace is willing to evacuate Nigerians stranded in Sudan free of charge if the government can get them to a safe and secure airport in any of the neighbouring countries bordering Sudan. Everything must not be left to the government and the government alone.
“We are very ready to do it immediately. No time wasting. Any action that would promote national pride, national cohesion, peace and unity, we are for it.
“Again, we have no apologies for believing in our nation and loving the nation despite certain national challenges. If they are moved to Kenya or Uganda or any other country, we will move in to get them out. Some parents have started calling on us to help. We are ready to do this again and again,” he said.
Nigerian government says stranded citizens in Sudan will be evacuated by road
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geofrey Onyeama, has said that Nigerians stranded in Sudan will be evacuated by road.
Speaking on Channels Television, Onyeama said roads are the viable option for evacuation.
“Obviously, what you need in a situation like this is a place where everybody can congregate before you start moving them out because the airports, as you pointed out in your report, it is out of commission. The only viable way out is by road.”
Earlier, the Nigerian embassy in Khartoum had asked Nigerians, particularly students in Sudan, to “remain indoors” as the bloody fight between rival military forces rages.
The embassy, in a statement signed by H.Y. Garko for chargé d’affaires on Sunday, said it was still dangerous to embark on a journey towards the borders of Sudan without security clearance from the country’s authorities.
No fewer than 4000 Nigerians are trapped in Sudan as the battle rages between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Since last weekend, the fight between the two rival forces loyal to Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF, has affected Khartoum and other strategic areas in the country.
Mr Onyeama noted that those stranded in the country could not be evacuated by air even though some nationals were evacuated by air and the United Nations conducted an evacuation by road, and Saudi Arabia used the waterways.
“But of course, it is not totally safe, so you are going to require the government to provide some security and a safe corridor out. We have been given the cost estimate and all the details. They gave us a figure of 5,500 who are ready for evacuation,” the Nigerian minister explained.
Since the violence broke out, France, Italy, Turkey, and the United States have begun evacuating their citizens from Sudan.
