The Egyptian authorities finally opened their borders to stranded Nigerian students in war-torn Sudan, Nigerian government said on Monday.
According to FG, the borders were opened to the students have an intervention from President Muhammadu Buhari.
This was made known by the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on Monday, via her Twitter handle.
Her tweet reads “With the intervention of President Buhari, Egypt has finally opened its border to Nigerians fleeing Sudan. With an Air Force plane already on the ground in Aswan, Egypt, the processing of the first set of evacuees will begin.”
Recall that Egypt had earlier given the Federal Government conditions for Nigerians fleeing the Sudan war to cross its border.
The first sets of Nigerian evacuees from Sudan, 637 students, had been stranded at the Egyptian border.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, had on Sunday night said the Egyptian authorities insisted on clearing all the 637 Nigerians before they could be allowed entry into Egypt.
The minister explained that the Federal Government might move the students to Port Sudan for evacuation if Egypt delayed further.
A message from the Nigerian Ambassador to Egypt, Nura Rimi, on Monday, showed that Egypt had finally granted Nigeria’s approval but on some conditions.
The conditions, according to the message, were: “Details and schedule of the aircraft; capacity of the aircraft; strong pledge that once our citizens depart the border, they will be conveyed directly to the designated airport.
“Comprehensive list of the evacuees, with passport numbers; valid travel documents (passport or ETC; presence of Nigeria Government officials at the points of embarkation. Standby buses that will immediately convey them to the airport.”
