Egypt Has Finally Opened Border For Nigerian Students Fleeing Sudan – Dabiri-Erewa

The Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa said Egypt has finally opened its border for Nigerian students evacuated from Sudan.

According to The Cables, Dabiri-Erewa revealed the border was opened on Monday after President Muhammadu Buhari spoke with Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the Egyptian president.

KanyiDaily recalls that the federal government had hired buses to evacuate Nigerian students fleeing Sudan and take them to the Egyptian border from where they are to be airlifted to Nigeria.

However, on getting to the Aswan border in Egypt, they were refused entry.

NIDCOM said the Egyptian authorities were insisting on visas, adding that the Nigerian mission in Egypt was working to rectify the issue.

Hopeful for a resolution, the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) evacuation team left for Aswan Airport on April 29 to airlift the stranded Nigerians.

“NAF C 130 prepares to depart to Egypt to evacuate Nigerian Nationals stranded in Sudan. They are going with a lot of dry food, water, medications, etc. Our prayers are with them,” NIDCOM had tweeted.

But in a Twitter post on Monday, NIDCOM said the Egyptian border has not been opened for the students, noting that the air force has assured the students that they will not be left behind.

“We will not leave without our students,” NIDCOM quoted NAF as saying.

The commission said the air force is ready once the Nigerians at the border are granted entry into Egypt.

KanyiDaily recalls that Air Peace had offered to freely evacuate Nigerian nationals who are stranded due to the ongoing conflict in Sudan.