More than 1,262 Nigerian students are appealing to their government for evacuation from Sudan, where a military confrontation has left 330 dead and 3,200 injured. The fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Force (RSF) has resulted in food shortages, electricity outages, and telecommunication blackouts. Even though some foreign nations have started evacuating their nationals from Sudan, Nigerian students are still stranded.
Adam Mohammed, the Secretary-General of the National Association of Nigerian Students in Sudan, said in an interview that he had written to the Federal Government about the students’ situation. He stated that no student had been hurt in the course of the war, but students were experiencing food shortages and other difficulties. Mohammed disclosed that 1,262 Nigerian students had filled out the evacuation forms as of Wednesday night. He revealed that the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan had spoken to the Nigerian government, and preparations for evacuation were ongoing.
The fighting began on April 8, and both sides have agreed to two ceasefires, but both failed to stop the violence. Disagreement over which general would be subordinate to the other and how quickly the RSF would be incorporated into the Sudanese military caused the fighting. Until recently, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF paramilitary group were allies who worked together in 2019 in a popular uprising that overthrew Sudan’s brutal dictator, Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades. After the coup, a power-sharing government was formed, made up of civilian and military groups. In 2021, al-Burhan, who had become chief of the power-sharing council, dissolved it, declaring he would instead hold elections in 2023.
The President of the Nasarawa State Students Association in Sudan, Al-Ameen Ahmad, said the students took precautionary measures to avoid being hurt or killed, adding that the association tried its best in providing food to the students. Ahmad noted that he was in touch with the authorities to facilitate the evacuation of the students, noting that the list of prospective evacuees had been compiled.
Abdullah Zakari, a student living in Khartoum, revealed that the gunshots were terrifying. Zakari noted that he was facing hunger because the markets where he stayed were closed, and they were suffering. The gunshots had been ongoing for more than a week, and it was scary. The President of the International University of Africa in Sudan, Mohammed Jilambu, stated that students had been experiencing the awful sounds of gunshots, artilleries, bombings, and the collapse of residential and governmental buildings.
The Nigerian government is trying to send in planes to evacuate Nigerian students in Sudan, and the situation concerning the Nigerian students there is under control. It assured that everything is under control because the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan has spoken to the Nigerian government, and preparations are ongoing. At the moment, the students’ association is using what they have to maintain themselves and also reach out to others with the hope that things get better soon.