Sudan Crisis: FG Denies Abandoning Igbos, Says Evacuation Done In Alphabetical Order

The Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri- Erewa, has denied reports claiming she and other diplomats allegedly prevented citizens of the South East extraction from boarding buses hired by the Federal Government to evacuate fleeing Nigerians from war-torn Sudan to the Egyptian border.

In a viral video on Twitter, a yet-to-be-identified young man alleged that he and others from the South-East region boarded one of the buses but were told by officials to alight, adding “Everything is now politics”.

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The video has generated over 12,000 tweets on Twitter and 31,000 interactions on Facebook as of the time of this report.

Several media reports (not THE WHISTLER) had on May 1 reported a statement by the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, claiming that the evacuation handlers are allegedly treating Igbos in Sudan in an “inhumane” way.

But in a rebuttal signed by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit at NiDCOM, Abuja, Abike described the allegations as the height of rascality and mischief.

Rather, the NidCOM chair explained that Nigerian diplomats in Sudan chose to arrange evacuees in alphabetical order, according to their state of origin because the situation in Sudan was already chaotic.

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NidCOM, without mentioning the said video, insisted that any Nigerian that did not show up at the pick-up point at the stipulated time should not blame anyone.

The Commission urged Nigerians not to distract the federal government from its ongoing evacuation efforts.

The statement partly reads, “The allegation by the faceless group, a Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, (COSEYL), signed by one Hon Goodluck Ibem against the indefatigable Abike Dabiri -Erewa who was busy coordinating the two-day conference of Global African Diaspora Symposium (GADS), with 64 countries in attendance in Abuja, is most wicked, divisive and a ridiculous fabrication.

“Reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff on ground in Khartoum, indicated that when the boarding of buses began , the situation was so chaotic that some people (including Non Nigerians) jumped in violently , some with daggers, through the windows .

“To bring sanity and to abide by the instruction of the Minister of Foreign Affairs that priority should be given to women , children and students, the officials started calling them in according to states in alphabetical order, beginning with Abia State.

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“Reports from Sudan indicate that all who converged at the prescribed locations, were to be picked up, have all been moved in 40 buses either towards Port Sudan or towards Egyptian borders.

“However , if some arrived after the stipulated time or did not show up at the point of pick up, they can’t blame it on anyone.

“NIDCOM is focussed, working with other relevant agencies ,on the safe return of stranded Nigerians and will not be distracted by nonsensical, illogical, irresponsible , rascal, and unfounded comments meant to distract from the success, safe and secure return of Nigerians from Khartoum, Sudan.”

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