The federal government has successfully evacuted 2,518 Nigerians caught in the armed conflict in Sudan.
Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) spokesperson, Abdulrahman Balogun, made this known, Saturday evening, in an update on the multi-agency programme initiated by the Federal government to evacuate interested Nigerians stranded in Sudan.
He said 173 additional evacuees, made up of 140 adults, three infants, and 30 children, who arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Saturday evening were part of the figure.
Balogun in a earlier update stated: “Expected flight, Aircraft B737-800 l. Company: Tarco Airline, left Port Sudan International Airport today, May 13, 2023, at 2:10 pm local time, with 140 adults, seven infants, Nigerian nationals (evacuees).
“Estimated time of arrival
Port Sudan (PZU) to Juba (JUB) 2 hoirs 50 minutes. Stop over 1 hrs in Juba. JUB to ABV = 03:30 minutes. Total = 7 hours 30 minutes. The flight is expected to arrive in Abuja around 18:30 pm. Nigerian time.”
In the latest update the Commission’s spokesperson sldisclosed that, “As at today, this is where we are: Total no of flights, 15: four from Aswan, Egypt; 11 from Port Sudan. Total number of evacuees as at Saturday 2,518.
He further provided a table of Evacuation bu flight indicating that, “NAF C-130, from Aswan Airport evacuted 94 people, Air Peace from Aswan Airport evacuated 274; MaxAir from Aswan Airport arrived Abuja with 410 passenger; while Azman Air also from Aswan Airport evacuated 322; just as Tarco Aviation 1st flight from Port Sudan arrived with 130 passengers onboard.”
He further stated that, “Tarco Aviation 2nd flight from Port Sudan evacuated 131, Tarco Aviation 3rd flight from Port Sudan evacuted 102; Tarco Aviation 4th flight from Port Sudan evacuted 133; Tarco Aviation 5th Flight from Port Sudan also arrived Abuja with 127 passengers; just as Tarco Aviation 6th and 7th flight from Port Sudan arrived Abuja with 136 and 128 passengers respectively.”
He said the other evacuees were airlifted by Tarco Aviation 8th flight from Port Sudan 136; Tarco Aviation 9th flight from Port Sudan, 123; Tarco Aviation’s 10th flight Port Sudan, 125; and Tarco Aviation’s 11th flight from Port Sudan, 147; bringing the total number of Nigerians evacuated to 2,518.”
