Egypt sends back 700 Nigerians to Sudan over lack of travel documents – Report

No fewer than 700 stranded Nigerians were sent back to Sudan by Egyptian authorities for lack of travel documents.

Two of the students without passports or any travel documents from the Nigerian Embassy were said to have sneaked into the group of passengers cleared to go to the airport from the Wadi Halfa border.

Their inclusion led the Egyptian authorities to send the entire group back to Sudan.

They said the inclusion of the two without their documents was contrary to the agreement signed with Nigeria before they agreed to open their borders.

The two students could also attract legal action as the Egyptians are fuming against their illegal entry.

Another student was said to have sneaked into Egypt too but was yet to be found, according to a Nigerian official seeking anonymity.

The angry official in a voice note said the action of the two students would be costing the group 10 man hours and money.

She explained that the bus would have to be paid for conveying them back to Sudan.

Besides, she said money would also be paid for exit and entry.

She pleaded with parents to talk to their children to exercise patience, assuring them that the government would not leave anyone behind.

Meanwhile, the second batch of 130 evacuees arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport around 3:10pm Nigerian time.

The returnees were on board B737-300 aircraft operated by TARCO Airlines from Port Sudan.

The evacuees who were welcomed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo and the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Ahmed walked into the Pilgrims terminal around 3:39pm.

Amongst those who returned were 128 women and children and two men.

The Federal Government also hinted that it recorded one delivery, adding that the mother and the baby were doing fine and would be airlifted to Nigeria as soon as the baby is certified to fly.

Providing an update on the evacuation, Sani-Gwarzo said: “We have successfully removed everybody from Sudan. We have over 1,700 people but we have made adequate arrangements to bring them back. The good news is that no life was lost.

“For today, the plane could take 130; 128 are females and children and we have only two men on board. We are going to continue to prioritise the return of females and children until all of them return.

“We will also prioritise sick persons. We had some people who developed some illness, some had malaria and had to be taken to the hospital. We have paid for their medical bills and they are doing very well.

“I also want to emphasize that people have been receiving videos and video clips via social media, indicating that there are some sick people, some women have delivered. Yes, it is true. We had a delivery. She delivered in the hospital. Both mother and baby are doing well and will be airlifted as soon as the baby is okay to fly.

“We also had somebody with a hand injury who was taken to hospital and operated on. He is now out of hospital. He is doing very well. One of them had severe malaria and had to be admitted. She has now recovered and she’s back and I spoke with all these three people that I’ve mentioned to you.”

On the challenges, he said: “One challenge that we faced today, which has thrown us into realigning our plans is the fact that some Nigerians were claimed to have entered the bus without permission, which caused the Egyptian side to delay the flight until that was sorted.

“I’m happy to say that just five minutes ago, we received a signal from Egypt, that all that problem has been cleared. The Nigerians have now been moved into the Egyptian side of the border. So we do hope that they will take the long journey from the border to the airport in Aswan.

“We have two planes that can carry all of them at the same time back to Nigeria, in the next few hours, we shall have no Nigerian traveler stranded or kept on the Egyptian side.

“All our efforts will now be concentrated on Port Sudan. And from there, they will come home directly. Like we also told you, there are other Nigerians that have found their way to the border. Those that have moved to the Ethiopian border have been well received by the embassy in Ethiopia, and they are making arrangements to bring them back home.”

continuing, he said: “The DG of NEMA is making arrangements for the flight back home. There are other Nigerians that have been shipped by the Saudi Arabian government along other nationals.  They took them to Jeddah and from Jeddah, the consul general in Jeddah received them.  He is housing them and we’re making arrangements to bring them back home”.

The DG of NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed, also revealed that more airlines had been engaged to hasten the evacuation process.

He said: “We have almost 800 passengers right now in Egypt side heading towards Aswan. So we have aircraft already on ground since yesterday. We have the Max Air with the capacity of 560 passengers and Azman with the capacity of 400 passengers already there.

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“We have activated Air Peace and we are waiting for their feedback. Air Peace is taking two flights out of Port Sudan. TARCO Aviation will continue with about four flights as they promised us today.

“The problem we had is definitely diplomatic issues, but all that has been settled. We don’t have anybody at the Sudanese side of the border now. All Nigerians are safe in Port Sudan, and the Egyptian side.”

The Director of Migration Affairs at the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Amb. Catherine Udiola, said one case of mental issue had been recorded amongst the evacuees.

On what the commission had done, she said: “We have put in place all plans to make sure that when they come back, they are readmitted and then properly reintegrated. And so, going forward, we have already started profiling the students.

“We will do some referrals to make sure we liase with the ministry of education to find placements for them in schools when necessary.

“And then of course, we have a psychosocial support team.  Most of them (evacuees)  are already traumatised  as you can see. And so going forward, we’ll be able to make sure we provide psychosocial support to all of the students that have come back and then follow up several weeks after to ensure that they are properly settled in and able to live a normal life thereafter after the trauma.

“They are already very traumatised. You can understand what they’ve been through in the past eight to 10 days, so they are traumatised. So far, so good, I think there’s only one person that’s really serious, a mental health problem in the Port Sudan area and that is also being taken care of.”

The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Umar Salisu, also said efforts were ongoing to also assist other African countries to evacuate their citizens.

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He said: “For our sister countries here in West Africa that have asked for our assistance from Nigeria because they don’t have missions, we have made contacts with the ambassadors to give us the contact addresses or contact numbers of their leaders in Sudan so that we’ll be able to contact them there and then organise them and then we will bring them back to their countries.

“We have also instructed our missions abroad, including all those countries that have contiguous borders to Sudan to also get prepared and send their officers, they have already sent their officers there in case any other Nigerian is missing around the border or needs assistance, then he or she will be brought back to the mission in the country.”

Nation