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No fewer than 4000 Nigerian students are stranded in Sudan following the ongoing crisis in the country.
The students lamented that there had been scarcity of water, food, electricity and other basic amenities since Sunday when the crisis broke out in the country.
The president of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Sudan (NANSS), Abubakar Babangida, speaking with Daily Trust on Thursday, confirmed that over 10,000 Nigerians school in the country.
The crisis in Sudan seems to be aggravating with explosions and gunfire rocking the capital on Thursday as fighting between the forces of two rival generals continued ahead of festivities marking the end of Ramadan.
Over 300 people have been killed since the fighting erupted Saturday between forces loyal to Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In a chat, Babangida said there were more than 10,000 Nigerian students currently studying in Sudan.
He said the students, mostly females, were stuck in Sudan at present.
“Statistically, we have more than 10,000 students studying in Sudan but now some are on holiday. Currently, about 3-4000 are stranded,” he stated.
The association had earlier written to the Nigerian government crying that its members were stranded in Sudan with no access to basic needs.
It also said its members had been facing dangerous threats.
“We hereby write, soliciting and yearning for the Nigerian government’s intercession to rescue and send for an immediate evacuation of the Nigerian students that are stuck in the centre of the ongoing war,” the letter written to the Nigerian government read in part.
One of the students, Hussein Musa Yusuf, who spoke to Daily Trust on phone last night, said there had been scarcity of water, food, electricity and other basic amenities since Sunday, April 16.
He said they could not go out in search of basic needs because of ongoing shooting that have claimed civilian casualties.
Yusuf, an indigene of Kano State, added that there is a danger ahead if they are not quickly repatriated because they had no access to health centres and pharmacies.
“Many students are stranded in their hostels and houses without basic needs of life such as food, water and electricity.
“Presently, there is no access to hospitals and pharmacies. There is a risk if they go out because there is shooting and civilian casualties have been recorded,” he said.
It was reported that the Nigerian government said it was in consultation with the National Emergency Management Agency, to evacuate Nigerian students in Sudan
In a statement signed by Gabriel Odu for the Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, on Thursday, noted that NiDCOM was in consultation with the “National Emergency Management Agency, which is in charge of emergency evacuations, and also with the Nigerian mission in Sudan and other relevant agencies.”
He said the Chairman/CEO, NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, “urged all Nigerian students in Sudan as well as Nigerians living in Sudan to be security conscious and calm”.
