By Suleiman Umaru
When Allen Oyeama, Chairman, Air Peace, volunteered informations to make available the Company’s aircraft to evacuate stranded Nigerians caught up in the North African country of Sudan crisis in any of the neighbouring countries of South Sudan, Egypt,Libya, Ehiopia, Eritrea, Central African Republic, CAR, and Chad, as the evacuation exercise should not be left alone for the government to handle, Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, Chairman, Azman Air, and other airline operators , may have seen it as a challenge.
The Nigerian government had spent $1.2 million, to purchase 40 buses at the cost of $30,000 each , which Ambasador Safiu Olaniyan, the Nigerian Ambassador to Sudan had said that the embassy waited for clearance from Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Relief Development and Mustapha Habib, Director General, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, on the use of the buses.
The embassy may have also waited for response from the governments of Nigeria and Egypt, to move the buses from Sudan across the Egyptian borders. This is because security clearance is what is needed for the Sudansese Armed Forces, SAF, at the borders of Sudan to move to Aswan and other Egyptian safe borders with Sudan. Note, Egypt has seven international borders with Sudan.
Given that Onyeama, Chairman, Air Peace , has volunteered to release the airline plane to evacuate the stranded Nigerians may have informed why President Muhammadu Buhari, had ordered the Nigerian Air Force , NAF, under the Command of Air Marshall Isiaka Olayinka Amao, to take the lead of the evacuating the stranded Nigerians rom Egypt.It was therefore not very surprising that NAF , Hercules,C130, transport plane and Air peace, could easily land at the Aswan airport in Egypt to airlift the evacuated Nigerians from Sudan.
Between Monday, May 1, 2023, and Sunday, May 6, 2023, NAF and Air Peace, were said to have successfully airlifted three batches of the Nigerian evacuees from the war torn Sudan at the Aswan airport in Egypt and arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, where the Passengers disembarked.
The three successful flights made by NAF and air Peace to the Aswan airport, in Egypt and Sudan port International Airport, to airlift Nigerians, may have informed why Sarina, Chairman, Azman air, Max Air, Tarco Aviation and other airline operators were said to have reached out to Habib, NEMA, Director General, who in turn had reached out to Hadi Abubakar Sariki, minister of Aviation and Geofrey Onyeama, minister of Foreign Affairs and Hajia Farouq, minister of Humanitarian Affairs including Abike Dabiri Erewa, Chairman, Nigerians In Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM, to inform them of the new development.
Until NAF, Air Peace and the other three air lines declared their support for the government in evacuating Nigerians from Sudan, NEMA, according to informed sources was said to have been working on various options of bringing the stranded Nigerians back home safe . is Habib, the agency Director General, it was gathered was working assiduously with all its partners and was constantly ‘’compiling updated information on the situation in Sudan and Egypt for them’’.
Given that NAF and air Peace, have already undertaken three separate flights to Aswan International airport in Egypt to airlift the Nigerians evacuated by the government may have encouraged Azman, Max Air, and Tarco Aviation, which had declared their interest to support the Nigerian government to conclude arrangement in airlifting the stranded Nigerians from Sudan and the Aswan Airport, in Egypt.
While Air peace had carried 277 Passengers in its first batch of the operation of airlifting the Nigerian returnees who had landed at the Nnandi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Azman Air and Max Air, were said to have airlifted 700 passengers from the airport in the fourth batch of evacuating the returnees that were said to havedisembarked at Nnamdi Azikiwe airport, in the early hours of Sunday, May 7, 2023, to the waiting hands of NEMA and the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Relief Development, officials .
Abdur-Rahmann Balogun, spokesman of NiDCOM, hd said that that the sixth batch of returnees from Port Sudan aboard aboard Tarco Aviation , landed moments before with 102 evacuees, including Pregnant women and children. He had said that another batch of 410 evacuees who had departed Aswan airport aboard Max Air, in Egypt had already landed at the airport.
Recall that the third batch of the returnee stranded Nigerians, numbering 132, mostly women, were airlifted from Port Sudan International Airport and had arrived the country on Friday, May 5, 2023.
There is no gain saying the fact that between Monday 1, 2023 and May 7, 2023, over 2,000, Nigerians have been airlifted back to Nigeria safe and dignified manner and more are on the waiting list at both the Aswan airport in Egypt and Port Sudan International airport to be airlifted. Out of this fifigure, a total of 836 passengers were said to have arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja from Port Sudan airport.
He may have gladdened the heart of Nigerians when he said that they are also waiting for the arrival of Air Peace from swan airport with another set of returnees. In spite of the heavy fighting between the SAF, under the Command of Gen. Burhan and Hamdam Dagalo, of Rapid Support Force, RSF, in Khartoun, the Sudan Capital, around the Presidential Palace and the Khartoun Internatiional airport , which had spread to every part of the city and its environs over the last three weeks, NiDCOM , officials are happy that ‘’no Nigerian citizen lost his or life to the two warlords loyalists.
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