The buses evacuating Nigerian students stopped in the middle of the Sahara Desert, as the drivers said they had not been paid.
The transport company had asked the drivers to stop the journey halfway, complaining that only about 30% payment was made to the company.
One of the Nigerians, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed disappointment towards the mode of payment to the bus drivers.
He said: “Why are our children always going through bitter experiences? We don’t even know were we are. There is no water nor food here.”
Another said: “Before we started this journey, we experienced different things. Can you believe that we have been stuck in this desert for five hours? We don’t know the situation we are in.
“We don’t have water. Our money has finished. Can you imagine? The drivers said they are not moving their buses because they have not been paid.
“We are stuck in the desert. We don’t have anything. We don’t even know where we are. We are in an unknown location and in very big danger.”
Abike Dabiri
Meanwhile, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), had confirmed that the evacuation had begun.
Also, Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Zubairu Dada, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, had said they wanted to utilise the 72-hour ceasefire to evacuate as many Nigerians in Sudan as possible.
About 5,500 Nigerians, including students, were stranded in Khartoum and other cities of Sudan as a result of the conflict.
Clashes broke out between erstwhile allies, General Abdel al-Burha, who heads the Sudanese Armed Forces and leader of the RSF paramilitary group, General Mohamed Dagalo, over power-sharing disagreement.
Speaking, former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, blamed the education sector in Nigeria especially the public schools system at the tertiary level.
He said: “The crisis in Sudan has affected foreigners and Sudanese nationals alike. Both sets of people have been caught in the crossfire that is a consequence of the power tussle between two power blocs in the dynamics of Sudanese politics.
“Yes, because of the collapse of education in Nigeria, especially, the public school system at the tertiary level, a lot of Nigerians that can afford it have indulged in the practice of sending their children abroad, Sudan inclusive.
“Let us hope that with this experience, in addition to that of last year in Ukraine, we will learn the lesson and draw appropriate experience and move forward with concrete programmes that will resuscitate our education sector to stymie the education tourism that is an obvious drain on the nation’s foreign exchange reserve.”
