After spending several days stalled at the border with Egypt, the first group of Nigerians fleeing Sudan landed in Abuja on Wednesday.
The evacuation plan, according to Nigerian authorities, includes more than 3,500 citizens.
“We had to lay down on the ground at our own homes after having bullets whiz through our heads. The noise is so loud that you can’t even sit down “Aisha Aliyu-Kaga, a female student, related the incident.
Muhammad Abdulrahman, a male student, said “I’ve never encountered anything like this before. And Ramadan is currently in effect.
There are gunshots nearby as we are starving without food or water “.
On Monday, Egyptian authorities agreed to let the evacuees cross the border following an intervention by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Two batches are coming in, one by the Nigeria Air Force, about 90, but an estimate of everybody on the flight is about 350, so 90 on C130 (Name of the Nigeria air-force aircraft, Ed.) and the rest on Air Peace (airline, Ed.)”, announced Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Director General, Nigeria In Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).
The fighting in Sudan has killed at least 550 people, displaced tens of thousands and triggered an exodus of foreigners and international staff.
