By Seyi Odewale
The Federal Government has set up a committee to work towards rescuing Nigerian citizens trapped in Sudan due to the current unrest in the North African country.
In a statement by the Head of the Press Unit, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Manzo Ezekiel, on Saturday, the committee, which consists of professional emergency responders, and search and rescue experts, “will constantly evaluate the situation and seek for the safest way to evacuate the Nigerian citizens even if it is through a country neighbouring Sudan.”
Ferocious battles between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group, which has seen fighting with tanks in densely populated Khartoum and air strikes launched by fighter jets, have killed more than 400 people and left thousands wounded.
The United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) said more than 420 people had been killed and over 3,700 wounded in the fighting across Sudan, but the actual death toll is thought to be higher.
Some hospitals have been shelled in fighting and others looted, with more than two-thirds of hospitals in Khartoum and neighbouring states “out of service”, the doctors’ union said.
The United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and other countries have started evacuating their citizens from troubled Sudan.
However, NEMA’s assurance came after the Federal Government on Friday expressed worry over its inability to evacuate Nigerians in Sudan as a deadly crisis continues to plague the North African nation.
Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had in a Twitter post noted that the authorities were experiencing challenges, particularly concerning airlifting Nigerian nationals out of the troubled country.
But according to NEMA, the agency is in “constant communication with all relevant partners including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and security agencies while seeking for an appropriate window of opportunity to evacuate all stranded Nigerians back home in a safe and dignified manner.”
It noted that the current emergency in Sudan is very complex with fighting between warring factions going on and all airports and land borders closed.
However, NEMA said it is working with all its partners and is constantly compiling updated information on the situation.
The Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed, also said that the agency was concerned and is working on all possible options for bringing the stranded Nigerians back home to their loved ones in a safe and dignified manner.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has asked Nigerian students in Sudan to remain indoors while it continues making arrangements for their safe evacuation from the troubled country.
A statement from the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Khartoum, signed by the Charge D’ Affairs, H.Y Garko, advised the students to disregard the notice circulated by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in Sudan, calling on students to converge at the African International University, NANSS office, and El-Razi University, for evacuation or to bring $100 or $200 for evacuation.
The FG said it was still dangerous to embark on a journey toward the borders of Sudan without security clearance and guarantee from the Sudanese authorities.
The Embassy also reassured the Nigerian students that their safety and well-being were of priority concern.
*As US, UK, and others rescue citizens
Meanwhile, the US troops swooped in on helicopters to evacuate embassy staff from Sudan’s battle-torn capital, President Joe Biden yesterday as other nations sought to help their citizens flee deadly fighting between rival generals.
Also, France yesterday launched evacuation operations from the northeast African nation, where ongoing fighting has entered its second week.
Biden, who said the US military “conducted an operation” to extract US government personnel, condemned the violence, saying “It’s unconscionable and it must stop”.
Just over 100 US special operations troops took part in the rescue to extract fewer than 100 people, which saw three Chinook helicopters fly from Djibouti, staying on the ground in Khartoum for less than an hour.
France’s foreign ministry said Sunday a “rapid evacuation operation” had begun, and that European citizens and those from “allied partner countries” would also be assisted, without giving further details.
Fighting continued yesterday with the crackle of automatic gunfire echoing across Khartoum and Sudanese military aircraft roaring overhead, witnesses said.
Frightened residents, many low on water, food, and other essentials, have huddled inside their homes in the chaos-torn city where buildings have been gutted, lampposts are lying on the ground, and smoke has been rising from shops set on fire.
Heavy fighting broke out on April 15 between forces loyal to Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The former allies seized power in a 2021 coup but later fell out in a bitter power struggle.
Daglo’s RSF emerged from the Janjaweed fighters unleashed in Darfur by former strongman leader Omar al-Bashir, where they were accused of war crimes.
Khartoum’s airport has been the site of heavy fighting with aircraft destroyed on the runway and is under the control of the RSF.
US Under Secretary of State John Bass said that the RSF “cooperated to the extent that they did not fire on our service members”, warning any wider effort to evacuate thousands of other American citizens was unlikely in the coming days.
More than 150 people from various nations reached the safety of Saudi Arabia after naval forces launched a rescue across the Red Sea on Saturday, collecting both Saudi citizens and nationals from 12 other countries from Port Sudan.
Other foreign countries have said they are preparing for the potential evacuation of thousands more of their nationals, with South Korea and Japan deploying forces to nearby countries, and the European Union weighing a similar move.
Three German military transport planes had to turn back Wednesday, according to the German weekly Der Spiegel.
But the scramble by foreigners to escape has sparked worry among Sudanese about what will happen when diplomats who could act as potential mediators have gone.
“Pushing for safe passages to evacuate internationals without simultaneously pushing to end the war will be terrible”, said researcher Hamid Khalafallah.
“International actors will have less impact once they’re out of the country,” he said, adding in a message to foreign nations: “Do all you can to leave safely, but don’t leave the Sudanese people behind unprotected.”
Also, the British armed forces have evacuated UK embassy staff and their families from Sudan, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said yesterday.
“UK armed forces have completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan, amid a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff,” Sunak tweeted.
The prime minister said the government was “continuing to pursue every avenue to end the bloodshed in Sudan and ensure the safety of British nationals remaining in the country”.
Defence minister, Ben Wallace, tweeted that UK forces undertook the military operation alongside “the US, France, and other allies”.
The UK operation involved more than 1,200 personnel from the army, the Royal Marines, and the Royal Air Force, he added.
