Sudan Crisis: Buhari Under Pressure To Quickly Evacuate Nigerians – Expert

The federal government of Nigeria is under pressure to quickly evacuate its citizens from war-torn Sudan and its ability to do this will show the international community how responsive and responsible it is in protecting the lives and properties of Nigerians , according to a foreign affairs analyst, Dr Riya’uddeen Maitama.

Maitama, an International Relations Lecturer at Bayero University Kano, told THE WHISTLER in an exclusive interview that while the conflict in Sudan is a tensed one, every country whose citizens are in a warzone would naturally be under pressure especially because of unavailable flights within the country.

THE WHISTLER reported Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama saying on Sunday that the viable option for evacuation of about 5,500 Nigerians stranded (mostly students) in Sudan for now is by road, adding that its diplomats are working on it.

The minister had revealed that the airports in Sudan are out of commission due to the ongoing conflict between the General Command of the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

However, a number of countries have been able to evacuate some of their citizens, particularly diplomatic staff out of the territory.

According to the European Union Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell, over 1,000 citizens were moved out of Sudan as of Monday.

Sharing his views on the development, Maitama said such a scenario will show the responsiveness of governments and its credibility amongst the nations.

He said the most important thing for the Nigerian government to do is organise a procedure to evacuate Nigerians from the war zone, quickly.

“There will be pressure from within and outside Nigeria, about the situations of Nigerians that are being trapped in Sudan.

“Nigerian government will try to do all that is possible within its power, to make sure Nigerians are safe but this will be limited because of the fact that the situation is so tensed and that Nigeria cannot just use any means at its disposal to say that it wants to evacuate Nigerians, because there is no provision for any foreign plane to land in the country nor take off; so this is making the situation so tense.

“The ability of Nigeria to in earnest, quickly provide for a means to evacuate Nigerians from Sudan will show how responsive Nigerian government is and how responsible it is in handling responsibilities vested on it as a government, which includes protection of lives and properties of its citizens.

“This will also make the Nigerian government to earn more credit within and outside the country because they would have proved to be more responsible in trying to protect the lives of its citizens,” he said.

He explained that the situation in Sudan will surely disturb any sitting president and any responsive government that has its people in its mind and that also care to protect the well being of its people.

He added that one of the developments in Sudan that should disturb any country is the unavailability of flights from the country’s international airport.

“Being trapped in this situation is a source of concern to the government and the most alarming situation is that the conflict has become so devastating that there is no foreign flight that is taking off from the international airport in Khartoum.

“Even delegations and emissaries from Saudi and US cannot land or take off from the international airport,” he said.

Many foreign nationals that are residing in the capital, Khartoum and other major cities of the country are affected and trapped by the conflict, Maitama said.