The Federal Government has debunked allegations that the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, refused to arrange for the evacuation of Igbo citizens from the war-torn country.
An amateur footage making the rounds online showed some stranded Igbo students with their luggages, accusing the federal government of discrimination in the evacuation process.
The narrator in the footage claimed to have boarded one of the evacuation buses on Saturday but was ordered to come down so that other ethnicities could board the aircraft for evacuation.
He said: “This appeal goes to Igbos. We are right here at the University of Khartoum in Sudan. They said they are doing an evacuation project in which Nigerians are to be evacuated out of Sudan. They came and carried some people and then abandoned us Igbos. We boarded the last bus that moved some Nigerians to Egypt, which left two days ago but we were asked to move out of the bus. Everything is now politics.
“We are pleading with our Igbo people who can help us. Our brother Air Peace who brought Airplane to help evacuate Nigerians might be feeling that everything is moving on fine. Let them know that things are not going fine. See our bags here. This is where we are. Somehow, news has spread that we have been evacuated but that’s not true.
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“We plead with people like Prince Arthur Eze, Obi Cubana, and all those that can help us out.”
The footage however caused a stir online with many Nigerians condemning the development and demanding an explanation from the Nigerian authorities.
Reacting, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesperson, Francisca Omayuli, asserted that the allegation had been investigated and found to be untrue.
According to her, Igbos were among the first group of the 637 Nigerians who were evacuated to the Aswan Border in Egypt.
While urging the public to disregard the allegation, she said that they are now waiting for their eventual arrival back in Nigeria.
Omayuli furthered that though there were scuffles between the students and other Nigerian residents due to the limited number of buses, the issue had been resolved.
“More buses were made available to accommodate every Nigerian national in Sudan who indicated interest to be evacuated.
“It is, therefore, surprising that such a misleading allegation could be leveled against officials of the Embassy who had worked tirelessly on the evacuation exercise,” she added.
