A total of 124 adults and 5 Infants representing the 8th batch of Nigerians trapped in Sudan due to the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, have arrived in Abuja, the country’s capital city.
The 129 evacuees aboard Tarco Airlines from Port Sudan arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport around 9:15 am Nigerian time after they were airlifted from Port Sudan.
The elated Nigerians were received by officials at the airport. They’re expected to go through medical checks to verify their state of health and stability before they’re reunited with their loved ones.
The evacuees will also receive return packages from MTN Nigeria and Aliko Dangote Foundation including a cash gift of ₦100,000 from the Africa’s richest man.
Nigeria, like many other countries, have airlifted officials, diplomats and citizens away from the war-torn Sudan after fighting broke out in the country.
The federal government has promised to repatriate all stranded Nigerians from Sudan as fighting continues in Khartoum, the capital and other areas.
Integrity News Nigeria reported that international communities including the United Nations have been making efforts to press for humanitarian ceasefire and also work towards amicable resolution of the fighting caused largely by power tussle between General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the Rapid Support Forces, RSF.
On Saturday envoys from the warring parties started negotiations in Saudi Arabia, in the city of Jeddah, across the Red Sea from Port Sudan, according to a joint Saudi-American statement.
The Arab League countries held also an emergency meeting in Cairo this weekend, the third of its kind in three weeks, to discuss the fighting that has killed hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands others to flee the embattled northeast African country.