The first batch of Nigerians fleeing war-prone Sudan has arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja. The three hundred and seventy-six returnees, who took off from Aswan, Egypt, were airlifted by the Nigerian Air Force on the NAF C-130H aircraft at about 4pm.
The Air Peace plane arrived at 11:35pm with 278 passengers while NAF C130 arrived at 11:55pm with 98 passengers. The returnees were welcomed by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management & Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk; Director General, National Management Emergency Agency (NEMA), Ahmed Mustapha and Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
The Minister disclosed that each of the returnees would be given one hundred thousand naira each to enable them settle in, adding that a full press briefing on the issues surrounding the evacuation had been scheduled for Thursday.
On his part, NEMA Director General also noted that four aircraft were expected to arrive on Thursday, adding that they would convey almost 400 persons. According to him, Azman Air has joined Air Peace in the evacuation effort.
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