The Nigerian government has spent $1.2 million to evacuate 2,400 stranded Nigerians from Sudan, according to the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama.
He disclosed the cost of the operation while speaking with journalists after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council, which was chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja. Onyeama explained that the high cost was to ensure the safety of the evacuees during the eight-hour journey from Luxor to Cairo and the eleven-hour trip from Aswan to Cairo in Egypt.
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Although Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces had agreed to halt hostilities at midnight on Monday, fighting reportedly resumed and a hospital was shelled on Wednesday.
Onyeama confirmed that no Nigerians lost their lives in the conflict, but there were no discussions about alternative plans for the continued education of the evacuees, who were mainly students of the University of Khartoum.
