Sudan: Evacuees Decry Poor Communication From Embassy 

Some Nigerians evacuated from Sudan have expressed disappointment at the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan over poor communication.

While addressing the evacuees, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo said “Today we are celebrating unique moments in the history of this evacuation exercise.

“We have successfully removed everybody that needs to be removed out of Khartoum.”

Gwarzo said two days ago, the Ministry brought in evacuees from the border of Sudan and Egypt through one port and all the evacuees that arrived today came from the port of Sudan, Republic of Sudan.

“This is unique because the bulk of our people after facing initial difficulties at the Egypt border, then we moved them to the port of Sudan and we are now arranging flights to bring them back home.

“This flight is not only a successful outing but an eye-opener for the remaining part of the journey. More flight has been activated,” he said.

Speaking further, Gwarzo said, “We have almost 1,700 people over there and we have made adequate flights to bring them back home and the good news is that no life has been lost.

“Every Nigerian that wants to move back is safe, some may have encountered difficulties, but it will soon be over and you will reunite with your family and lovely ones.

“You were the first batch to move out of Khartoum which happens to be an Egyptian border, and the large majority of them will arrive in the next eight hours as at the time of filing this report or more.”

One of the evacuees, Sumaiya Yusuf, who is studying at Sudan International University commended the federal government and its agencies for their role in evacuating them.

Narrating her ordeal, she explained that the whole journey takes more than a week which includes: picking up venues, waiting for buses, going back home, and staying in the sun. It was a long stress and we are all tired.

“I am really disappointed at the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan because their method of communication was very poor and, to be honest, there is no communication between us.

“During our times at Port Sudan we were stuck in between the road for like 24 hours and the Embassy didn’t say anything about that and we didn’t even know who to contact, talk to,” she said.