The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) said the federal government had made arrangements to pay visa fee visa fees for stranded Nigerians at the country’s border with Sudan.
Chairman of the commission, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa disclosed in Abuja on Saturday while giving updates on the fate of stranded Nigerians at the Egypt border.
“The mission has made arrangements to pay nine dollars per person and 25 dollars visa fees. Within Egypt itself, one cannot travel from one region to another without an exit permit. We are expecting a CI30 to take off within the hour. NAF is getting set to depart with food etc for Aswan,” she said.
Recall that the NiDCOM chairman had on Friday called on relevant authorities along contiguous borders of Sudan to create a humane condition for about 7,000 nationals, including Nigerians, to have unfettered access to their various destinations.
She said the nationals were not being allowed to cross the border into Egypt since their arrival on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has evacuated a total of 2,544 persons from Sudan following the outbreak of a military conflict in the country.
Among them, 119 are Saudi citizens while 2,425 are from 74 countries among which 10 are from Nigeria.
This was contained in a press release by the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Nigeria and made available to our correspondent on Friday.
“In continuation of the evacuation efforts being made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the directives of the Kingdom’s Leaderships, more evacuees continue to arrive at Jeddah Port from the Republic of Sudan on Thursday, bringing the total number of evacuees from Sudan since the evacuations began at approximately 2544 persons, 119 are Saudi citizens while 2425 are from 74 countries among which 10 are from Nigeria.
“The evacuees are from the following nationalities: Nigeria, Netherlands, Russia, and Lebanon. Norway, USA, Turkey, Serbia, Poland, Germany, India, Georgia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sweden, Uzbekistan, UK, Ireland, Kenya, Philippines, Ethiopia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Pakistan, Oman, Syria, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Mauritania, Yemen, Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, France, Netherlands, Armenia, Hungary, Sweden, Turkey, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Tanzania, Djibouti, Cape Verde, Congo, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Somalia, South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Croatia, Nicaragua, Liberia, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Chad, Niger, Sri Lanka and Thailand.”
The statement added that the country had been working to provide all the necessary basic needs of foreign nationals who have been evacuated, in preparation for facilitating their departures to their countries.
“Furthermore, the Kingdom7 would continue to assist in organising and coordinating the evacuation operations around the clock, to ensure the safe exit of civilians from all nationalities.
“The Kingdom, together with friendly countries, encourages the establishment of armistices and opening of humanitarian corridors, as well as protection of the civilians. The Kingdom will continue to make every possible effort, to stop the bloodshed, to end the fighting, and return to the path of a political solution in Sudan,” it added.
