How we paid $1.2 million to hire buses to bring back Nigerians from Sudan — FG

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development have confirmed that the first batch of 13 buses conveying 637 stranded Nigerian students had arrived safely at Aswan borders in Egypt.

They also explained how $1.2m was negotiated to hire buses to convey the evacuees.

The necessary documentation and clearance before admission into the Egyptian territory for their eventual evacuation to Nigeria, according to them, was ongoing.

A joint statement by the Permanent Secretaries of the ministries indicated that the movement of the second batch of 29 buses would commence yesterday.

The statement advised evacuees to be at the designated locations with only one piece of luggage.

It explained that contrary to insinuations on social media, embassy staff were very much on the ground in Khartoum to coordinate the evacuation exercise to the very end.

The statement stressed that the outcry over the negotiated sum of $1.2 million for the buses hired for the exercise was uncalled for.

According to the statement, the amount was negotiated in a condition of war and there were competing demands for the same bus services by other countries also trying to evacuate their citizens.