Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has stated that the House would look into the Egyptian government’s tough diplomatic posture in refusing admission to Nigerians fleeing the war-torn Sudan.
In a meeting with Zubair Dada, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Director General of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Nasir Gwarzo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, and other government representatives on Tuesday, Mr. Gbajabiamila made this statement.
The National Assembly complex served as the venue for the meeting.
Mr. Gbajabiamila voiced his displeasure with the behaviour of the Egyptians during the evacuation in response to the situation update on the continuing evacuation.
“The fact that Egypt’s borders are again open is also heartening. But given the current crisis, we will bring it up in parliament to find out why they didn’t open the borders sooner.
He stated, “We are pleased that all 5,500 Nigerians who were willing to leave Khartoum have been evacuated and are returning to Nigeria.
Mr. Gbajabiamila said that the House would reconsider the statute designating the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as the entity in charge of overseeing such evacuations.
The National Emergency Management Agency, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Humanitarian, Disaster Management, and Social Development all had overlapping roles in the current evacuation operations, the speaker claimed, which made this essential (NEMA).
According to Mr. Gwarzo, who described the evacuation operations, although Nigeria swiftly responded to the crisis by employing a multi-sectoral strategy combining his ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and NiDCOM, the preparations first encountered some difficulties.
He claimed that Sudan’s isolation from the outside world and its shaky banking system made it challenging to transmit money for crises quickly.
All Nigerians who were willing to return home had been evacuated by buses to Port Sudan, where they would then be airlifted, Mr. Gwarzo added, noting that the initial problems had been resolved.
“We work nonstop and stay in touch with all student organisations.
The permanent secretary said that “most of the concerns have previously been adequately addressed” and that “some of the footage you see on social media are rather overblown.”
He stated that the airlift would involve up to five aircraft, one of which would be a Sudanese carrier, and that another option of travelling by navy warships within a seven-day window was also being examined.
According to NEMA’s announcement, the first group of 1,600 Nigerians to be evacuated had been due to arrive in Abuja last Friday. However, they were prohibited from crossing Egypt’s border with Sudan.
However, the Nigerian government reported on Monday that due to President Muhammadu Buhari’s intervention, the Egyptian authorities had opened their border to 5,500 Nigerians fleeing Sudan.
