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By Emmanuel Adeleke
The Board of Trustees of the Aliko Dangote Foundation has disclosed that it is fully involved in the evacuation and resettling of thousands of Nigerians stranded in Sudan.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), Zouera Youssoufou, who made the disclosure, said she has been in contact with the management of Air Peace and the Federal Government to express the Foundation’s readiness to support stranded Nigerians.
“The Foundation will collaborate with the Federal Government and Air Peace in ensuring seamless transportation of the stranded Nigerians and more importantly provide logistics and succour to the evacuees, to make them settle more comfortably when they return to Nigeria,” she said.
The CEO further said that ADF understands the challenges facing the Federal Government and Air Peace and has contacted relevant agencies involved in humanitarian disaster relief intervention.
“We are indicating our interest in collaborating with them to ensure that all Nigerians stranded in Sudan are brought back home safely,” she added.
Recall that ADF supported the Nigerian government with logistics for Nigerian health workers who volunteered for the Ebola containment efforts in Liberia and Sierra Leone upon their return to the country in 2015.
Also, during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, ADF supported the return of Nigerians from India and Dubai, especially with the provision of chartered flights, testing and quarantine when they arrived back in Nigeria.
Since 2011, ADF has supported thousands of IDPs in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa and Abuja, with a total spending of over N25 billion in the provision of food, shelter and health services.
Meanwhile, a joint statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development has revealed that the first batch of 13 buses conveying 637 evacuees have arrived at the identified safe border at Aswan, Egypt, and are undergoing necessary documentation and clearance before admission into the Egyptian territory for their eventual evacuation to Nigeria.
Sudan has been experiencing intense clashes between the country’s military and the main paramilitary force. Hundreds of people have been killed, while thousands that are fleeing the bloody civil war are stranded at the Sudan-Egypt border because of visa requirements demanded by Egypt authorities.