ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Igbo students in Sudan have accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration of bias in the evacuation of Nigerians from the war-torn country.
According to an amateur footage making the rounds online, some stranded Igbo students were seen with their luggage, accusing the Federal Government of Nigeria of discrimination in the evacuation process.
A narrator in the footage claimed to have boarded one of the evacuation buses on Saturday but was ordered to come down.
The Igbo students are therefore seeking help from prominent Igbo personalities for their 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.
“We plead with people like Prince Arthur Eze, Obi Cubana, and all those that can help us out.”
The footage has since caused a stir online with many Nigerians condemning the development and demanding an explanation from the Nigerian authorities.
Meanwhile, the Chairman Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, stated earlier in a tweet that Nigerians in Sudan are being sorted according to their States Of Origin during the evacuation process.
She deleted the tweet after it garnered a backlash from concerned Nigerians who wanted to know the essence of the State Of Origin profiling in the evacuation process.
The federal Government of Nigeria also said that about 1,519 stranded Nigerians in Sudan are expected to leave Khartoum via hired buses to Port Sudan and other designated border points for their evacuation to Nigeria.
Also, the Government of Egypt has also opened up its borders to Nigerians fleeing from Sudan following an intervention by President Muhammadu Buhari.
A Nigerian Air Force plane is already on ground in Aswan, Egypt to facilitate the evacuation of Nigerians.