The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, says the House will investigate the hard diplomatic stance of the Egyptian authorities in denying access to Nigerians fleeing war-ravaged Sudan.
Mr Gbajabiamila stated this on Tuesday during a meeting with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubair Dada; Director General, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs Social Development, Nasir Gwarzo; and other officials of government.
The meeting was held at the National Assembly complex.
While reacting to the situation report on the ongoing evacuation, Mr Gbajabiamila expressed dissatisfaction with the attitude of the Egyptians during the evacuation.
“It is also heart-warming that borders are now open in Egypt. But we will take it up in parliament to find out why they didn’t open the borders in time, especially in a period of crisis like this.
“We are happy that all 5,500 Nigerians willing to leave Khartoum have been evacuated and are on their way home to Nigeria,” he said.
Mr Gbajabiamila also said the House would revisit the law that made the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) the agency responsible for taking charge of such evacuations for a possible review.
The speaker said this has become necessary due to the lapses observed in the current evacuation operations as seen in the overlapping roles of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs; Humanitarian, Disaster Management and Social Development; the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM); and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Giving the details of the evacuation operations, Mr Gwarzo stated that though Nigeria responded immediately to the situation by using a multi-sectoral approach involving his ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NiDCOM, the plans faced some initial challenges.
He said the isolation of Sudan as a country from the outside world with loose financial operations made it difficult to move funds easily for emergencies.
Mr Gwarzo added that the initial hitches had been addressed, saying that all Nigerians willing to return home had been evacuated by buses to Port Sudan, from where they would be air-lifted.
“Our work is 24 hours on and we are in contact with all student groups.
“Some of the videos you see on social media are a bit exaggerated and most of the issues have been well taken care of already”, the permanent secretary said.
He added that up to five airlines, including a Sudanese carrier, would be involved in the air-lifting, while another option of travelling by naval vessels within a seven-day duration was also being considered.
NEMA had announced that the first batch of 1,600 Nigerians evacuated were expected to arrive in Abuja last Friday. They were however not allowed to cross Egypt’s border with Sudan
However, the Nigerian government on Monday said the Egyptian authorities had opened their country’s border for 5,500 Nigerians fleeing Sudan to cross following the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari.
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