TheCable

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), has spoken about the viral video of the evacuated students reportedly stranded in a desert.

On Wednesday, buses arrived to evacuate Nigerian students amid the ongoing crisis in Sudan.

NiDCOM said the buses would take the students to the Egyptian border from where they would be airlifted to Nigeria.

However, hours after their departure, a video surfaced on Twitter of some Nigerian students in an unidentified location, saying they were stranded and raising an alarm over their security.

'We don't know where we are': Nigerian students in Sudan on their way back home say they are stranded, raising an alarm over their security. pic.twitter.com/4OiPwEngkn

— Channels Television (@channelstv) April 27, 2023

“Can you imagine that we have been stuck in this desert for five hours, we don’t know the situation we’re in and our money has finished,” a female student in the video said.

“And the drivers said they’re not moving their buses because they did not give them money. Look at this place, we don’t even have a compass to know our location. Everything has finished, we are in an unknown location and in very big danger.”

The video shows some buses parked in a deserted area with a crowd of people seeming frustrated at the situation.

TheCable could not immediately verify the video.

‘CHALLENGES ARE EXPECTED’

Reacting to the video in a press briefing on Thursday, Dabiri-Erewa said the evacuation process was a tedious one and that challenges were expected.

She said the government was in touch with the students, noting that relevant agencies would resolve the situation in no time.

“I’m seeing reports on Twitter — don’t believe everything on social media – -but I’m seeing reports that they’re stranded somewhere because the bus driver is demanding for some kind of full payment but whatever is happening will be resolved by NEMA and between the Nigerian mission in Sudan and Ethiopia,” the NiDCOM chair said.

“There will be challenges along the way. It’s a very very complex and fluid situation. So whatever challenges are being faced now, I believe that relevant agencies will resolve them.

“We’re in touch with some of the students and whatever it is they talk about we try to convey to the relevant agencies and we’ve resolved quite a few.

“Whatever it is they’re going through now, two hours away to where they are, will be resolved, and let’s understand that it’s a very fluid situation. And at the end of the day, we believe Nigeria will be one of the countries to rescue most of its citizens in Sudan.”

She said 13 buses have departed from two universities in Khartoum, carrying Nigerian students to the Aswan border in Egypt, adding that barring any last-minute changes, the first set of evacuees would be expected to arrive in the country on Friday.