TheCable

The federal government says the tense atmosphere in Sudan is frustrating efforts to evacuate Nigerians stranded in the country.

Violent clashes between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, have killed over 270 people.

Thousands of civilians have fled Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, with foreign nations making efforts to evacuate their citizens.

Several Nigerians in the country have intensified calls on the government to rescue them.

But speaking on Saturday, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), said the tense situation in Sudan made it “risky and impossible for any flights at this point in time”.

The NiDCOM chairman said aircraft parked at the airport were burnt.

In a statement by Gabriel Odu, the commission’s spokesperson, Dabiri-Erewa said the Nigerian mission in Sudan and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have put in place arrangements for the evacuation of students and others stranded in the country.

She also said humanitarian groups were seeking ways of getting food, water and medicals across to people in the country.

The NiDCOM boss appealed to warring parties to consider the Juba Peace Agreement pronounced by Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Dabiri-Erewa described the agreement as a fundamental mechanism for the restoration of peace and tranquillity in the country.

The federal government had earlier assured Nigerians in the country of its commitment to rescue them.