The Nigerian government says it is evacuating its citizens from the war in Sudan with 40 buses for $1.2 million.
The minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said Wednesday, that the Nigerians are being moved in the buses to the Egyptian border from where they are expected to be airlifted to Nigeria.
“The sum of $1.2 million is what we’re being charged for all the 40 buses,” he said.
“We have huge transporter luxury buses made available to us to transport to the Egyptian border.
“Of course you know, because of the risks involved and so many other things, a lot of people are going to also take advantage, you’re going to hike up the price.
“We saw that the French convoy was attacked and so forth. It was difficult procuring these buses.
“But we had to do it because, you know, Nigerian lives matter to us.”
Meanwhile, the government says no Nigerian has been killed in the Sudan crisis.
The minister of state for foreign affairs, Zubairu Dada, said Nigeria secured 72-hour permission from Sudan for the evacuation which is being done in batches.
Sudan has been embroiled in crisis since 15 April when fighting broke out between the country’s Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), both led by former allies General Abdel al-Burhan and General Mohamed Dagalo respectively.
The violent clashes have killed over 400 people, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
