According to the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Egyptian borders were opened to the evacuees after President Muhammadu Buhari’s intervention with the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Dabiri-Erewa disclosed this in response to a report about NIDCOM’s earlier update that the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) were ready to bring home Nigerians caught in the Sudan crisis but the evacuees were refused entry at Egypt’s Aswan border.
In a tweet on Monday, May 1, 2023, the agency said, “The Egyptian border still not opened for our students, but the Nigeria Airforce is ready, the NAF C 130 landed in Aswan Airport, and they say “We will not leave without our students”
Six hours after, the agency tweeted that the North African country eventually opened its border to Nigerians after President Buhari’s intervention. Makesense Pm reports,
“With the intervention of President Buhari, Egypt has finally opened its border to Nigerians fleeing Sudan. With an Airforce plane already on the ground in Aswan, Egypt, the processing of the first set of evacuees will begin” the tweet reads.
Following the opening of the border, the stranded Nigerians will be airlifted back to their country.
