Air Peace has expressed its readiness to evacuate stranded Nigerians in Sudan.
By Emma Ogbuehi
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.
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“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.
The Air Peace comes on the heels of shoddy arrangements by the federal government to rescue Nigerians from the war-torn country. In a belated move, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed plans to the evacuate over 2,000 Nigerians in Khartoum, the capital of crisis-plagued Sudan.
This was disclosed by the NEMA Director, Special Duties, Onimode Bandele, during a live appearance Monday on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“It is true that there are plans to get buses to start moving tomorrow morning. And as I speak to you, the Director General, National Emergency Management Agency, Mustapha Habib, is already in Cairo because that is the window that we are looking at”, he said.
According to him, the movement is to be perfected between the Nigerian embassy in Khartoum and the NEMA director general.
Asked how many Nigerians to be removed from the troubled North African country, Bandele stated that evacuation of a few thousand citizens is in the works.
“Our projection was that most students and others who want to evacuate are about 5,000. But with my discussion with the ambassador this morning, the plan is for about 2,650-2,800 to move immediately, including families of embassy staff.
“As these plans continue, we’ll be able to update you with the actual figure and the exact time of departure from Khartoum to Cairo,” he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, on Sunday, put that the number of Nigerians in Sudan at 5,500.
Following the escalation of crisis in Sudan, many countries are putting up arrangements to repatriate their nationals out of the country. The UK army has completed the evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan amid ongoing fighting.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the evacuation on Sunday, saying there had been a “significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff”.
