The Federal Government has admitted that some Nigerian nationals were asked to come down from evacuation buses in Sudan, noting that the issue had been resolved.
This was confirmed by the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Francisca Omayuli, on Wednesday, though she denied claims that the country’s embassy in Khartoum refused to evacuate Igbos.
She urged the general public to disregard the allegation by some stranded Nigerians in Sudan that officials discriminated against people of Igbo descent during the evacuation exercise.
Omayuli said that it had investigated the allegation and found it to be false, adding that Igbos were among the first batch of 637 Nigerians evacuated to Aswan Border, Egypt.
The Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, however, said there was an initial fracas between students and other Nigerian nationals over the limited number of buses and as such some were asked to step down, but more buses were eventually provided.
She said; “The attention of the ministry of foreign affairs has been drawn to a video making the rounds on the social media of an unidentified man with no indication of his contact details nor location, claiming that the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, refused to evacuate Igbo resident in Sudan.
“The ministry has investigated the allegation and can assure Nigerians that there is no truth whatsoever to the allegation.
“The Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum confirmed that evacuees of Igbo extraction were among the first batch of 637 Nigerians evacuated to Aswan Border, Egypt where they are presently awaiting their eventual return to Nigeria.
“However, more buses were made available to accommodate every Nigerian national in Sudan who indicated interest to be evacuated.
“It is, therefore, surprising that such a misleading allegation could be leveled against officials of the embassy who had worked tirelessly on the evacuation exercise. To this end, the general public is advised to disregard the allegation.”