The Federal Government has announced that Egyptian authorities have opened their border for Nigerians, mostly students, fleeing the Sudan war to pass through its border, following an intervention by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, announced this via her Twitter handle.

She tweeted: “With the intervention of President Buhari, Egypt has finally opened its border to Nigerians fleeing Sudan. With an Air Force plane already on the ground in Aswan, Egypt, the processing of the first set of evacuees will begin.”

A message from the Nigerian Ambassador to Egypt, Nura Rimi, also indicated that the students have been cleared due to a direct intervention by the Buhari-led government.

The conditions, according to the message, were: “Details and schedule of the aircraft; capacity of the aircraft; strong pledge that once our citizens depart the border, they will be conveyed directly to the designated airport.

“Comprehensive list of the evacuees, with passport numbers; valid travel documents (passport or ETC; presence of Nigeria Government officials at the points of embarkation. Standby buses that will immediately convey them to the airport.”

Recall that Geoffrey Onyeama, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Sunday night that Egyptian authorities insisted on clearing all 637 Nigerians before they could enter Egypt.

The minister explained that if Egypt delays any longer, the Federal Government may relocate the students to Port Sudan for evacuation.

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Approximately 5,500 Nigerian students are expected to arrive from Sudan as part of the evacuation, which began on Wednesday.

Fighting between the army and the paramilitary RSF, both led by army generals, has killed over 400 people in Sudan.

The United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Sudan earlier warned that the humanitarian crisis in the country was turning into a “full blown catastrophe” and that the risk of spillover into neighbouring countries was worrisome.

“It has been more than two weeks of devastating fighting in Sudan, a conflict that is turning Sudan humanitarian crisis into a full blown catastrophe,” Abdou Dieng, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, told a briefing of member states via video link.