The Federal Government said Wednesday it has spent $1.2m to deploy 40 buses for the evacuation of about 2,400 stranded Nigerians out of Sudan to Egypt.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to Oyneama, the amount for the evacuation included the provision of security cover for the eight-hour journey from Luxol to Cairo and the eleven-hour trip from Aswan to Cairo, Egypt.
The minister said the outcome of the proceedings at the council meeting was overshadowed by plans of the federal government to safely evacuate its citizens from the war-torn Sudan.
Vanguard reports that although the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces agreed to halt hostilities at midnight Monday, local media reports that fighting had resumed, even as a hospital was shelled on Wednesday.
Onyeama, who noted that no Nigerian life had been lost to the conflict, said there were no talks about alternative plans for continued education for the evacuees, most of whom are students of the University of Khartoum.
The Nigerian Diaspora Commission had explained that the evacuation planned for Tuesday failed due to logistic challenges.
Chairperson of the Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, confirmed that the new travel plans were finalised Tuesday night.