The Sudan Old Students Association of Nigeria (SOASN) has raised alarm over the number of Nigerian students still trapped in crisis ridden country.
The old student body disclosed that over 2,500 undocumented Nigerian students are trapped inside the Sudan/African University without any hope of survival under the acute shortage of necessities of life.
Although, these figures revealed by SOSAN have yet to be confirmed officially, the president of the association, Aliyu Abdulkadir informed that they received distress calls from the students that their lives are in extreme danger.
Abdulkadir confirmed to Daily Post that the 5,000 students reported to have been transported to Egypt were still at the border waiting to be cleared by the Egyptian authority.
He equally noted that some of the students were dropped in the bush by the drivers because they hadn’t paid their money.
He, however, alleged that the money said to have been set aside for the evacuation of the students had been tampered with, leaving hundreds of the students in extreme danger inside Khartoum.
He said, “Reports reaching us is that right now although there is no case of loss of lives, some female students are said to be raped while warring soldiers are advancing towards the university”.
Another old student of the Sudan University, Gambo Ado, confirmed that some Nigerian students at the Sudan International University of Africa are stranded adding most of them are mainly women living without food or shelter.
He said they have already reported the matter of the undocumented students to the government.
“For now there is no single voice speaking for the Nigerian students, monies sent to them did not reach them and most of them even sent their clips in the bushes shouting for help,” he revealed.
Delay at Egyptian borders caused by CBN payment system, says FG
Meanwhile, the Federal Government on Sunday gave a breakdown of the $1.2m spent on the bus fare to evacuate stranded Nigerians from war-torn Sudan to Egypt’s borders for onward airlifting to Nigeria.
The Permanent Secretary of the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry and Chair of the Situation Room on the evacuation of Nigerians from Sudan, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, explained after a closed-door meeting of the ministry in Abuja.
He explained that $30,000 was paid per bus and that 40 buses were procured for the proper evacuation of Nigerian citizens stranded in Sudan.
He also explained the delays experienced by Nigerians at the Egyptian borders, delays in payment caused by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the requests for visa payments by the Egyptian government.
According to him, the owners of the buses demanded complete payment, noting that sending money to Sudan cannot be done directly but through middlemen.
He quickly added that the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) have been carried along in the payment process.