Sudan Crisis: 637 Stranded Nigerians To Get Health Screening After Entering Egypt

The 637 Nigerians stuck at the Egyptian border will have to undergo health screening as soon as they enter the country, Nigerian diplomat Nura Rimi disclosed Tuesday.

Rimi, who serves as the Nigerian Ambassador to Egypt, said the government's conditions must be fulfilled in order to fly the stranded people to Nigeria.

The group has been stuck at the Egyptian border after getting evacuated from Sudan six days ago.

Speaking with Nigeria Television Authority, Rimi explained that they are "waiting to be called to cross over to the Sudanese side to receive our citizens," Punch reported.

"You can imagine that they have been out there for five-six days," Rimi said. "So, as soon as they come in, they are going to be checked in by the Red Cross to determine their state of health before we put them on the bus before we start the six-hour journey to Aswan."

Rimi further explained that as soon as the stranded Nigerians get to the Egypt border, their health would be evaluated by the Red Cross before they board a bus to Aswan, which will be a six-hour journey.

From Aswan, the evacuees will get an aircraft that will land them in Nigeria.

At Aswan, the evacuees will be handed over to National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

"That is one of the conditions," the Nigerian ambassador said. "As soon as we pick them up, we will hand them over to NEMA officials and, of course, our officials will accompany them with an escort of the government of Egypt to Aswan Airport and straight into the aircraft."

She added, "We have a C130 on the ground and an Air Peace plane is on the way. They are going to release the students based on the number of available seats and the aircraft on the ground."

The ambassador admitted she did not know how many batches of Nigerians were present at the Sudanese side of the border as she was on the Egyptian part.

"We know that the Egyptian government gave us some conditions to which we must comply," the Nigerian ambassador emphasized. "We are going to go on with the evacuation based on the agreement with the Egyptian government. No one has crossed the border yet."

A NEMA official disclosed the government was trying to use alternative measures to break through the challenges they were facing during the evacuation.

Francisca Omayuli, who serves as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, revealed on Tuesday the allegations of selective picking of stranded Nigerians were baseless and they were evacuating everyone in batches.

"The Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum confirmed that evacuees of Igbo extraction were among the first batch of 637 Nigerians evacuated to Aswan Border, Egypt where they are presently awaiting their eventual return to Nigeria," Omayuli said, The Cable reported.

The minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, shared last week that the Federal Government has sent 40 buses to evacuate at least 2,400 Nigerians in Sudan, which cost them $1.2 million.