ASHENEWS reports that the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has described Nigerian government’s promise to evacuate Nigerian students in Sudan as fake.
This online platform further reports that the Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, in a statement mailed to us on Friday, also claimed that students were paying bus drivers to transport themselves to neighbouring countries, thereby “forced to take their destinies into their own hands.”
According to Rafsanjani, “We are worried that students are contributing the little they have to pay their transportation to neighbouring countries which is very risky and dangerous, because the government has made fake promises to provide transportation to evacuate them.”
Rafsanjani posited that the Nigerian government has a constitutional responsibility to ensure that the rights of the citizens were protected both in their country and abroad.
He expressed worry that while smaller countries had evacuated their citizens from the country, a supposed bid power like Nigeria was still playing with the lives of its citizens.
“Other smaller countries have succeeded in evacuating their subjects in Sudan, if a country like Uganda can evacuate their citizens, what is our government waiting for?
“We believe that if their children are involved, they would have taken swift actions to evacuate them, but these are children from poor homes, that is why excuses are being given.
“We are worried that people are hungry and there is no concrete information from either the Embassy or the Committee in charge of the buses.
“People are sitting outside under high temperatures. The temperature is so high that people are thirsty. Nowhere to find water to drink or buy food to eat.
“We are worried that students are contributing the little they have to pay their transportation to neighbouring countries which is very risky and dangerous, because the government has made fake promises to provide transportation to evacuate them.
“This clearly shows that the Nigerian leaders appear not to care about their citizens and their safety.
“We call on the presidency and the national assembly to take necessary step by liaising with African Union and other international bodies to ensure amicable resolution of the Sudan crisis,” Rafsanjani stated.
While calling on the government to take advantage of the opportunity given by the Sudanese government to urgently evacuate the students, Mr. Rafsanjani said if nothing is done to address this situation, Nigerian students might start dying.
He also called on state governors whose subjects are also trapped in Sudan to help to evacuate them immediately.
Rafsanjani further appealed to private individuals and private organisations to support the evacuation of students, lamenting that the government has failed in its responsibility to evacuate the children of the poor masses schooling in Sudan.
