FG: NAF ready to bring home stranded students — but Egypt’s border still closed

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) says the Egyptian border is still not open for the evacuation of Nigerian students fleeing from Sudan. 

On April 26, TheCable reported that buses had arrived in Sudan to evacuate Nigerian students caught in the ongoing crisis.

The buses were meant to take the students to the Egyptian border from where they are to be airlifted to Nigeria.

However, on getting to the Aswan border in Egypt, they were refused entry.

NIDCOM said the Egyptian authorities were insisting on visas, adding that the Nigerian mission in Egypt was working to rectify the issue.

Hopeful for a resolution, the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) evacuation team left for Aswan Airport on April 29 to airlift the stranded Nigerians.

“NAF C 130 prepares to depart to Egypt to evacuate Nigerian Nationals stranded in Sudan,” NIDCOM had tweeted.

“They are going with a lot of dry food, water, medications, etc. Our prayers are with them.”

But in a Twitter post on Monday, NIDCOM said the Egyptian border has not been opened for the students.

The commission said the air force has assured the students that they will not be left behind.

“We will not leave without our students,” NIDCOM quoted NAF as saying.

The commission said the air force is ready once the Nigerians at the border are granted entry into Egypt.