War: Sudan On The Edge Of Abyss As Countries Across The World Continue To Evacuate Their Citizens

By Lateef Adegbite

The two week-old fighting in Khartoum, and its environs, between two rival Forces,  the Sudan    Armed forces, commanded by Gen. Abdel Fatah Burhan, who incidentally is the Leader of the war torn  country Ruling Council and the heavily armed  paramilitary   Rapid Support Forces, RSF, which had emerged  from the Janjaweed milita that  the then President Omar-al Bashir had unleashed  in the Darfur region   some 20 years ago but now  headed by Gen, Hamdam Dagalo appears to have put the North African country on the  edge abyss.

.  That much was confirmed by  Antonio  Guterres, the United Nations, UN, Secretary General . He has every reason to think so. This is because countries across the world are evacuating their citizens from the war torn country to avoid being caught by the crossfire. At present the scale  of lack of resources , access to clean water, electricity and internet facilities remain  patchy.

The UN , Secretary General, has raised alarm  that ‘’the violence in Sudan  risks  catastrophic  conflagration  within the country  that could engulf  the whole region and beyond’’.  This may have informed why he has mandated the 15 member nations of the Security Council, comprising of five permanent members and 10 Non-Permanent members, ‘’to do everything within its power to pull  the country back from the edge of the abyss and restore it back  on the path of Democratic Transistion’’.

The worry of the Gutererres, the UN, and Secretary General is that the Sudan war may spill over to the neighbouring countries of South Sudan, Libya, Central African Republic, Eritrea, and Chad, which also shares border with Nigeria which are currently experiencing violence. Other Sudan neighbouring countries include Egypt and Ethiopia which were said to have tightened security around their common border.

Given that Sudan is a member country of the UN, which has a Security Council, organ, mandated to settle disputes, may have informed why the body has met on the Sudan crisis since it erupted on Saturday, April 15, 2023 and still met again, on Tuesday, April, 24, 2023 to find a lasting solution to the crisis and bring the warring parties to the Negotiating table.  

Indeed, the five permanent members of the UN, Security Council, comprising of the North American country of the United States, US, United Kingdom, UK, France, a member country of the European Union, EU, and the Russian Federation, particular, the US, according to Diplomatic sources is pushing the two rival military factions, SAF and RSF, involved in the Sudan war, ‘’to agree to a nationwide ceasefire’’. Anthony Blinken, the US, Secretary of State,   who is working round the clock to restore peace in Sudan, would want the SAF and RSF, ‘’to adhere to an immediate ceasefire and ensure the protection of people’’.

  Indeed, those anticipating that the US, will station   a peace- keeping Troop on ground in Sudan may have to do a rethink .  Jake Sullivan, the National Security Adviser, NSA, had said that President Joe Biden’s has ‘’no plans to put peace –  keeping troop on ground in Sudan  but the government  has ‘’suspended    embassy operations in the country’’ .However, the NSA, was said to have  reassured  US, citizens resident in the North African country that ‘’ it would like ‘’to resume  operations  as soon as it is safe to do so’’.  

  UK, another permanent member of the Security Council, already   has a military Team in the crisis ravaged country ‘’doing reconnaisance’’.  The military Team, Aljazera Television had reported are stationed in the east of the country in port Sudan doing their reconnaissance work and helping the British and nationals of other countries who are in the country.   

Andrew Mitchell, the UK, minister For Africa, had told the British House of Common members on Monday, April, 23, 2023, that ‘’the situation is extremely grave in Sudan’’.  The minister may have come to the conclusion based on what he may have seen on the internet or read in the Newspapers and briefs from the embassy officials about mhow corpses liter the streets of Khartoum and its environs.

 The situation was made worse as the hospitals are overwhelmed and the Morgues full  begging for space to accommodate  more dead bodies. This may have informed why the UK, Lawmakers held an emergency response meeting called’’ COBRA’ ‘’to decide on the next line of action on the Sudan crisis’’.  

Gen. Dagalo: Commander RSF

Thomas Hobbes may have had Sudan in mind when he wrote he Levithian  in the 16th century  with special   emphaisis on the state of nature   which was characterized  by extreme competition , where the people have unlimited freedom  that  leads to chaos  and a war-like scenario’’.

The worrisome situation in Sudan,  may have encouraged  Saudi Arabia,  to quickly   send a Passenger ship  port Sudan, amidst tight security,  on Wednesday, April 25, 2023, to evacuate  1,687  civilians  from more than  50 countries  fleeing  the country, described as  the largest evacuation effort  by the Middle East country so far.

 Many believe that ever since the crisis erupted in the North African region  country,  the Gulf Kingdom, according to Diplomatic sources  has received several rounds of evacuees by air and sea that may have positioned it as ‘’a major player in responding to regional crisis’’.

Meanwhile, Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, has not evacuated any of its citizen from the country since the war broke out in Sudan.   Salifu Olukayode Olaniyan, Nigerian Ambassador to Sudan said that much.

 Geofrey Onyeama, minister of Foreign Affairs, who had faced the Federal Executive Council, FEC,  Chaired by President Muhammadu Huhari, who is counting days in office,  to brief them on the efforts being made to evacuate Nigerian citizens from the war torn country, on Wednesday, April 26, 2023,  had said that  ‘’plans have been  perfected  to evacuate  over 5,000 Citizens’’. He was said to have told the Councilmembers that the first batch of Nigerians resident in the country would be conveyed to a safe location as starting on that Wednesday.

He  was said to further told the Council  members that the Nigerian citizens are being conveyed  by buses that was said to have been  procured by the government   at the cost of $1.2 million through the Sudan’s neighbouring country of Egypt .  Going by the minister of Foreign Affairs, account, the government had procured 40 buses for the evacuation of Nigerians trapped in the Sudan crisis.

 According to him, priority was given to the   country’s Diplomats, women, and Children   in the vacuation process and not even the over 400 Nigerian students crying for evacuation since the situation in Sudan became chaotic which is a bad Advertisement for the government.

The minister who could beat his chest that ‘’no Nigerian life has been lost so far in the crisis engulfing Sudan calls to question  ’’ why the Buhari’s Administration have been reluctant to evacuate the Nigerian students to any safe location to give room to Akken Onyeama, Chairman of Air Peace to send the Company  Commercial  aircrafts to airlift them  back to Nigeria.

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