Facts emerged on Sunday that President Muhammadu Buhari has formally opened discussion with his Egyptian President as part of ongoing efforts aimed at ensuring clearance and airlifting of stranded Nigerian Citizens from the war-zone Sudan back home.
Chairman, Situation Room jointly established by Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management & Social Development, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo confirmed this at a press briefing in Abuja, while giving update on the ongoing plans to address encumbrances hindering the planned evacuation of the first set of evacuated Nigerians.
He however lamented that 420 Nigerians out of the 637 people who were evacuated have so far been cleared by the Egyptian authoritities, are yet to be allowed into the country.
He disclosed that each of the evacuated Nigerians were mandated to pay the sum of $8 at the Sudanese border before exiting and additional sum of $25 before gaining entry into the Egyptian border.
While noting that no fewer than numbering 637 Nigerians have so far been successfully moved by Federal Government from Sudan to Port Sudan, Dr. Sani-Gwarzo added that there are other Nigerian Nationals who have moved to other locations such as Wadi Alfa, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, among others.
He said: “We have been able to move 637 out of Khartoum directly by Federal Government to the Port of Aswan or its axis in various locations at that place.
“We have people that have arrived at the border of Sudan called Gwadi Alfa, we have people that have arrived Nigerian Embassy in Cairo in Egypt has made arrangements to receive these 637 out of which they were able to clear 420 but the Egyptian authorities are not so far clear them to move into Egypt.
“The reason is the borders arrangements in those locations are different from the usual border arrangements we are used to in west Africa. You need a visa, you need to pay a fee to exit a country and you need to pay a fee to enter a new country.
“What the Sudanese border is asking Nigerians to pay is equivalent to $8 for exit, and equivalent for the Egyptian is asking per evacuated citizen is $25. It’s not the money that matters, it’s the permission,” he noted.
Dr. Sani-Gwarzo who reiterated Nigerian Government’s resolve to evacuate all her Nationals at Aswan by Nigerian Air Force airplane, disclosed that Federal Government also received request from some neighboring countries to airlift their stranded Citizens.
When asked about the names of the neighboring countries, he argued that it is against diplomatic arrangement.
According to him, 3 States namely Jigawa, Borno and Kaduna that sponsored some students on scholarships to study in Sudan have so far moved their citizens out of Sudan, adding that Federal Government has taken over the welfare of all the affected persons.
While assuring that Nigeria gas secured the bilateral assistance of some international agencies and bilateral government relations for provision of useful information, he disclosed that good reception arrangement has been provided in Abuja for the returnees.
While responding to questions on the controversies surrounding the payment of $1.2 million the buses, he disclosed that the sum of $30,000 was demanded by the Transport company for each of the buses for 14 vehicles, adding that despite payment of the sum of $400,000 advance payment, only 13 vehicles were released for the evacuation at Khartoum.
According to him, the payment of the funds were reported to authoritities of Department of State Security (DSS) and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) which are responsible for tracking of funds out of the country and in the spirit of accountability.
He however noted that the bus drivers conveying Nigerian Nationals stopped in the desert and demanded for full payment of the fund. This, he noted has so far been paid and amicably resolved.
According to him, the funds transfer by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was unable to get through due to the associated changes with the CBN Swift payment system.
He however noted that alternative funds have been sent to them to resolve their challenges.
In the bid to ensure the evacuation of all the affected Nigerians, Dr. Sani-Gwarzo disclosed that 31 buses were initially paid for today (Sunday) to evacuate Nigerians, but additional 3 additional buses were further provided for in other to ensure that no Nigerian is left in evacuated from Sudan.
