Nigerian authorities have dismissed accusations of ethnic bias during the evacuation of stranded nationals in Sudan. This follows a viral video in which one of the Nigerians stranded in Sudan alleged that some of them were left behind during evacuation because of their ethnicity. But in a statement on Tuesday, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (Nidcom) denied the accusations terming them “divisive and ridiculous".
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Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the Nidcom spokesperson, said all those who converged at the prescribed locations were picked up, and have all been moved in 40 buses either towards Port Sudan or towards the Egyptian border. He said priority was given to women, children, and students, and were called according to their states in alphabetical order, beginning with the south-eastern Abia state. "If some arrived after the stipulated time or did not show up at the point of pick up, they can’t blame it on anyone," Mr. Balogun said. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has invited the minister of foreign affairs, Nidcom, and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to appear before it to give an account of the evacuation status of Nigerians in Sudan.
