Igbo students in Sudan have accused the Nigerian authorities in charge of evacuating stranded Nigerians from Sudan and the Muhammadu Buhari regime of bias in the evacuation of Nigerians from the war-torn country.
The video seen by Beadysworld TV online on Sunday 30th April night trending online, showed some stranded Igbo students with their luggage, accusing the federal government of discrimination in the evacuation process.
The narrator of the video at the Egypt border said, that he and some Igbo students have boarded one of the evacuation buses out of the Egypt border on Saturday but were ordered to Alight from the bus, and other non-igbo Nigerians were allowed to board the bus which took them out of Egypt., he said that some of the stranded Nigerians at the border have been evacuated by another arrangement other than the one they know, They are therefore seeking help from prominent Igbo personalities for their evacuation.
He claimed that Nigerian authorities evacuated stranded Nigerians in war-torn Sudan by the State of Origin and left Igbos behind
The man in a viral video adorned in black attires, who spoke in Igbo language, stated they were asked to come down from the bus that conveyed other stranded Nigerians from other ethnic groups on Saturday and Sunday to Egypt.
The young man in the video, however, appealed to wealthy Igbo men to come to their aid.
He said: “We are here in the University of Khartoum, they are doing an evacuation project, evacuation of stranded Nigerians. They came and carried those they carried and left us that are Igbos. When we entered the evacuation vehicle three days ago, we were asked to come down. Everything has entered into politics.
“We are begging our people who could help us. Our brother Allen Onyeama of Air Peace brought out planes that will carry people from Egypt to home.
He is there doing everything to ensure that things went well but I want to inform him and other Nigerians that things are not going well. See where they left Igbos to die while the news going on in Nigeria is that we have been evacuated. See us and our bags where they left us in Sudan. We have not been evacuated oh!
“We are calling wealthy Igbo men like Arthur Eze, people who are known for helping people to come to aide.”
Meanwhile, Nigerian Twitter users have lambasted the Chairman/CEO of Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) Abike Dabiri-Erewa, describing her as a “tribal bigot”. he said, we suspected this when they started lifting Nigerians out of Sudan to Egpyt with state of origin, he claimed, that is pure discrimination and segregation, if those buses were going to Nigeria direct, we will understand the intention for the state of origin but, why using state of origin to move Nigerians out of war zone, from Sudan to Egpyt border if not with intention fo discrimination they just showed by asking them to alight from the bus they have already boarded, he questioned.
@PIDOMNIGERIA wrote: “Abike Dabiri is a tribal bigot. I pity Geoffrey Onyeama, who is just a ceremonial Foreign Affairs minister.
Man is too weak for my liking.
“He cannot stand his grounds to take some critical actions. Just imagine how they sidelined & abandoned Igbo intentionally in Sudan to die.
@Sheva8492 wrote: “Am a Yoruba man who works and lives in Anambra, how do I show this to my Igbo friends? They are the nicest people on earth. If you are a Yoruba person and you’re supporting this evil, don’t worry it will surely reach you.”
The Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, stated earlier in a tweet that Nigerians in Sudan are being sorted according to their States Of Origin during the evacuation process.
The footage has caused a stir online with many Nigerians condemning the development and demanding an explanation from the Nigerian authorities on the state of origin if not for a crime like this..
She deleted the tweet after it garnered a backlash from concerned Nigerians who wanted to know the essence of the State Of Origin profiling in the evacuation process.
Meanwhile, The federal government says about 1,519 stranded Nigerians are still in Sudan and are expected to leave Khartoum via hired buses to Port Sudan and other designated border points for their evacuation to Nigeria.
The Government of Egypt has also opened up its borders to Nigerians fleeing from Sudan following an intervention by President Muhammadu Buhari after Nigerians spend 5days at the Egypt border. A Nigerian Air Force plane is already on the ground paying landing fees in Aswan, Egypt ready to facilitate the evacuation of Nigerians.