Sudan: FG Says Evacuation of Women, Children to Be Given Priority

¶Hires 40 buses at cost of $1.2m  

•Declares Nigeria has not recorded any casualty in ongoing crisis

•Hints that diplomats will be on ground to coordinate evacuation

•Air Peace to begin airlifting via Egypt Friday

Deji Elumoye in Abuja, Emma Okonji and Nosa Alekhuogie in Lagos 

The federal government yesterday said it would prioritise the evacuation of Nigerian women and children trapped in war-torn Sudan.

This was just as the Chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, disclosed that Air Peace would begin airlifting of Nigerians who are stranded in Sudan from Friday.

Also, the government which formally reacted to the ongoing crisis in Sudan, revealed that no single Nigerian soul has been lost to the civil war.

It, however, disclosed that many Nigerians had already been evacuated by sea with the assistance of Saudi Arabian government.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, and the Minister of State, Zubairu Dada, made this known while speaking with newsmen after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja.

Commenting on the evacuation process of stranded Nigerians in Sudan, Dada said the Nigerian government had successfully secured permission and authorisation from the Sudanese government to evacuate Nigerians from the war torn country.

According to him: “The evacuation is being done in batches to ensure the safety of all Nigerians, but the good news is that no Nigerian life has been lost so far.

“I think it’s important to stress that all Nigerians are very safe and we’re very confident and hopeful that we shall not lose any Nigerian life Insha Allah in this exercise. All is well and we’re good to go.”

Asked if all Nigerians will be evacuated before the 72-hour window, he said “we have no problem about the 72-hour window. Because we’ve talked to all the authorities concerned and we’re on the same page, but talking about the window, we are making every effort to ensure that we make use of this window to evaluate as many Nigerians as we possibly can.”

Dada, also disclosed that some Nigerians have already been evacuated by ship by the government of Saudi Arabia.

His words: “Let me also add that some Nigerians have actually been evacuated by ship, I guess from Port Sudan, by the government of Saudi Arabia. Don’t forget, this is a joint effort. “We have friendly nations that are ready to assist, you know, so that we’re having to record that the Saudi authorities have been able to, pick up some Nigerians, they’re transporting them by ship, I guess to Saudi Arabia, to Jeddah in particular.

“From where, of course, again, we’ll link up and find a way of bringing them back from Jeddah those that succeed in going to Jeddah.”

On the order of priority of those to be evacuated, Dada said: “All lives are equal. Certainly, we won’t want to give preference to diplomats. The diplomats are just as good as every other Nigerian, so we will take them all on board depending on who’s ready and available at any point in time.”

He stressed that in the order of evacuation, women and children would be prioritised, adding that diplomats would not be evacuated before students and other Nigerians.

Also speaking, Onyeama said: “With regards to the evacuation of Nigerians in the Sudan, you’ll recall that the main challenge we had was securing some permission, first of all authorisation of the Sudanese government and, and then, you know, some security support for the convoy because it’s been decided that we will transport or convey the Nigerians to the Egyptian border Aswan.

“So that’s what we decided. We are liaising with our embassy in Egypt as well. So we’ve been able to overcome a number of challenges and have started the process which we’re very happy about.

“We secured significant number of luxurious buses because the distances are quite considerable. We started the process and it will take, you know, maybe a couple of days to evacuate everybody.

“As regards the gender question, I think that’s obviously something we will have to look into in a bit more detail, but I think ordinarily, it will be appropriate that women and children should be given priority I think that goes without saying”.

Asked what the evacuation exercise was costing Nigerian government, Onyeama said: “$1.2 million is what we’re being charged for all the 40 buses.  We have huge transporter luxury buses made available to us to transport to the Egyptian border. Of course you know, because of the risks involved and so many other things, a lot of people are going to also take advantage, you’re going to hike up the price.

“We saw that the French convoy was attacked and so forth. It was difficult procuring these buses. But we had to do it because you know, Nigerian lives matters for us.”

Onyeama, also explained that the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Muhammadu Muhammed, was already on ground in Egypt and coordinating the logistics with embassy staff to ensure a smooth evacuation process.

He said: “Now, regarding the evacuation process, what we are primarily responsible for, is to ensure the safe evacuation from Egypt, of all the Nigerians who want to leave. The numbers as the honourable minister has said, have left through various borders, and by ship thanks to the Saudis.

“So the exact numbers that will now make it on that convoy to Egypt is not exactly clear at the moment. But once they get there is from Aswan, as the Honorable Minister has also said, the director general of NEMA is there, and they are now going to take over with regards to getting them back to Nigeria.

“So whether they use military transport planes, C-130, I spoke to the Chief of Defence Staff, and he indicated that there were some military transport planes that will be available. And of course, you mentioned Airpeace making that offer and there are other airlines, too, that their owners might also want to make an offer, but we will leave it to never to coordinate who they use to transport by air, these citizens of ours.”

Air Peace Begins Airlifting of Nigerians from Sudan Via Egypt Tomorrow 

Meanwhile, Onyema has said Air Peace would begin airlifting of Nigerians by Friday.

Onyema who confirmed the airlifting arrangement from Egypt, said, he was in talks with the Nigerian Ambassador to Egypt and that he would send three of his aircraft to Egypt tonight, to airlift Nigerians on Friday morning back to Nigeria.      

Onyema, who spoke yesterday on ‘The Morning Show’ on ARISE NEWS Channels, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers, said he believed in the unity of Nigeria and would be ready to sacrifice for Nigeria, in order to promote unity, irrespective of the religious and cultural differences.

Asked if the federal government would pay for the service of airlifting Nigerians to safety, Onyema said: “I did not collect money from government and government did not promise to pay me, since it is a selfless job that is free of charge.

“For me it’s a privilege to serve my country in my capacity without asking for payment. We are a country with diverse culture and religion, but we must see ourselves as one in the face of our diversity, and only selfless service can help achieve this to a great extent. So whatever I can do to promote unity among ourselves, I will gladly do it.”

According to Onyema, “Aviation business is not a lucrative business in Nigeria. I am in the business because I have passion for it. I use money from other businesses to finance the aviation business and I am glad doing so, because the business is paying the salaries of workers.” 

Onyema, who is also the Vice Chairman of Airline Association of Nigeria, called on the in-coming government to pay more attention to Nigeria’s aviation industry and enable the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ across the industry. He advised the in-coming government to facilitate the speedy importation of aviation spare parts and to reduce import duties.

He expressed concern about multiple charges and taxes in the aviation sector and advised the federal government to cut down on excess charges in order to boost ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the aviation sector.