Nigerians Fleeing Sudan Stranded As Drivers Dumps Them In Desert Over Payment [Video]

Nigerian students escaping the unrest in Sudan got stranded on Thursday when buses evacuating them stopped in the middle of the Sahara Desert, as the drivers complain about payment.

On Wednesday, the Federal government said N150m was released for hiring 40 buses to convey about 5,500 Nigerians from Sudan to Cairo in Egypt, from where they would be airlifted to Nigeria.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s government also claimed it spent $1.2 million to deploy vehicles to evacuate Nigerian citizens currently stranded in Sudan

It was gathered that the Nigerian students who are escaping the unrest in the troubled country followoing the three-day ceasefire declared by the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Force, are now trapped in the desert before getting to Egypt.

According to Vanguard, the transport company which was hired to evacuate the Nigerian student had asked the drivers to stop the journey halfway, complaining that only about 30% payment was made to the company.

In a video shared on social media, one of the stranded students, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the drivers vowed not to continue the journey if they are not paid.

He said: “Why are our children always going through bitter experiences? We don’t even know were we are. There is no water nor food here.”

A female student said: “Before we started this journey, we experienced different things. Can you believe that we have been stuck in this desert for five hours? We don’t know the situation we are in.

“We don’t have water. Our money has finished. Can you imagine? The drivers said they are not moving their buses because they have not been paid.

“We are stuck in the desert. We don’t have anything. We don’t even know where we are. We are in an unknown location and in very big danger. We don’t have anything.”

Also, in an audio file, another student was heard saying their location in the desert was almost 1,000 km from the capital, claiming their present location has poor mobile phone coverage.

But the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa said the issue had been resolved and the evacuation process had continued.

“I have just spoken to the @nemanigeria. They have started moving and the issues between Nema and the transport company have been resolved,” she tweeted after the video of the affected students went viral.

Watch the video below:

KanyiDaily recalls that Nigerian leading airline, Air Peace, had offered to freely evacuate the Nigerians stranded due to the ongoing conflict in Sudan.