The federal government has responded to allegations that some Nigerians of Igbo descent were deliberately left behind in the ongoing evacuation of civilians from war-torn Sudan.
According to previous reports, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abeke Dabire-Erewa, has directed the Igbos in Sudan to be left behind in favor of other ethnic groups.
Within Nigeria recalls a viral video circulating on social media claiming Igbo tribal people in Sudan were stranded while one of the tribal people recounted how they (Igbo) were asked to get off the bus to allow Nigerians of other ethnicities to get off could take their place.
Based on this, the Coalition of Young Leaders of the South East (COSEYL), an Igbo youth-led organization, described the alleged abandonment of Igbo indigenous people in Sudan during an evacuation drill as barbaric and vicious.
In response to the allegation, NIDCOM on Tuesday issued a statement signed by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, head of the Media, Public Relations and Protocols Department, which it called a “wicked lie.”
It alleged that those responsible for publishing the reports did not bother to double-check the allegation or get the head of NIDCOM, Dabiri-Erewa, on record.
In the statement, Balogun explained that during the boarding process, some people, including non-Nigerians, jumped into the buses with violence, some with daggers, through the windows.
This prompted officials, in order to restore sanity and comply with the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ instruction that priority be given to women, children, and students, to begin calling them in alphabetical order, beginning with Abia State.
The commission also said that if some arrived late or did not show up at the pick-up point, they cannot blame their own officials.
In the statement, NIDCOM refuted any allegations of ethnic bias in the onboarding of citizens stranded in Sudan and cleared Dabiri and all other officials of any wrongdoing.
The full statement reads:
A fabricated lie from the hellhole has come to the attention of Nigerians from the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) that the Chairman/CEO is Hon. (Dr.) Abike Dabiri-Erewa prevented some Nigerians, especially those from the southeast, from boarding buses hired by the federal government to evacuate stranded Nigerians from war-torn Khartoum in Sudan. The absurd allegation, first published by the Chukwujekwu Ilozue, an independent daily newspaper on May 1, 2023 and then published by Today, the Nigerian Tribune online and other online media, is the pinnacle of rascality and mischief.
The Said group never bothered to cross-check the sponsored false story on Hon. Get to know your side of the story before spreading the lie to all the media in the spirit of Abike Dabiri-Erewa, or justice, balance and objectivity.
The allegation by the faceless group, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), signed by one Hon Goodluck Ibem against the indefatigable Abike Dabiri -Erewa, who was busy coordinating the two-day Global African Diaspora Symposium (GADS) conference, with 64 countries, present in Abuja, is the most evil, divisive and ridiculous fabrication.
Reports from Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel on the ground in Khartoum said that when boarding of the buses began, the situation was so chaotic that some (including non-Nigerians) jumped in violently, some with daggers, from the windows.
To sanitize and comply with the Secretary of State’s instruction that priority should be given to women, children, and students, authorities began naming them by state in alphabetical order, starting with Abia State.
Reports from Sudan indicate that all those who gathered in the designated areas, should have been taken, all have been transferred in forty buses to the port of Sudan or to the borders of Egypt.
However, if some arrived after the stipulated time or did not show up at the pick-up point, they cannot blame anyone.
NIDCOM is focused, working with other relevant agencies, on the safe return of stranded Nigerians and will not be distracted by senseless, illogical, irresponsible, violent and baseless comments intended to disrupt the successful, safe and secure return of Nigerians from Khartoum, Sudan.
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