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The Federal Government of Nigeria said it has spent an estimated sum of about $1.2 million to deploy 40 buses to evacuate about 2,400 stranded Nigerians out of crisis-ridden Sudan.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed this to newsmen on Wednesday, shortly after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chambers of Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
The sum has generated reactions but the reasons for the huge cost said to have been spent on the evacuation, as given by Onyeama, was to provide security cover for the eight-hour journey from Luxol to Cairo and the eleven-hour trip from Aswan to Cairo, Egypt.
Although the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces agreed to halt hostilities at midnight Monday, local media reported that fighting had resumed even as a hospital was shelled on Wednesday.
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Onyeama noted that no life of a Nigerian was lost in the conflict, adding that there were no talks about alternative plans for continued education for the evacuees, most of whom are students of the University of Khartoum.
At least, 40 buses were reported to have been deployed to move Nigerians out of Khartoum and other troubled parts of Sudan early Wednesday.
According to the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, the evacuation planned for Tuesday failed due to logistical challenges.
Chairperson of the Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, confirmed that the new travel plans were finalised Tuesday night.
