The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, on Wednesday, 26th April, 2023, said no Nigerian life has been lost so far in the crisis engulfing Sudan.

Dada stated this at a media briefing after the Federal Executive Council Meeting, adding that the Federal Government had already perfected plans to evacuate over 5,000 Nigerians in the war-torn country.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada

He stated that the first batch of Nigerians are being conveyed as of Wednesday, 26th April, 2023, noting that citizens will be conveyed via buses through Egypt and consequently airlifted.

The Minister added that children, women, and diplomats are to be prioritised in the evacuation process.

An armed conflict between rival factions of the military government of Sudan began on 15 April 2023. It started when clashes broke out in Western Sudan, in the capital city of Khartoum and in the Darfur region. As of 25th April, 2023, at least 559 people are believed to have been killed and more than 4,000 others injured.

The latest conflict is between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the heavily armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF.

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in the Darfur region two decades ago, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

Story: Asma’u Sani

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