3,100 Nigerians evacuated as Sudan war enters third year

At least 3,108 Nigerians have returned home from Sudan since civil war erupted in the North African country in April 2023, Sunday PUNCH has learnt.

The figure is based on verified evacuation records from the Federal Government and the International Organisation for Migration, highlighting one of Nigeria’s largest emergency repatriation exercises in recent years.

Data obtained from the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and IOM Nigeria showed that the return operation was initially executed through an emergency government-led evacuation in the early weeks of the conflict before transitioning into a phased humanitarian return programme coordinated by the IOM.

The Federal Government evacuated no fewer than 2,518 Nigerians through 15 special flights between April and May 2023.

Of the flights, four departed from Aswan in Egypt while 11 departed from Port Sudan after thousands of stranded Nigerians, many of them students, endured difficult journeys through conflict zones to reach designated evacuation points.