NIGERIANS IN SUDAN: GBAJABIAMILA BLAMES "INTERAGENCY DISAGREEMENT", SUMMONS AGENCIES OVER EVACUATION ISSUES

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The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has blamed the difficulties encountered in the evacuation of Nigerians from the war-torn Sudan to “interagency disagreements.”

In his remarks at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday, Gbajabiamila said that the difficulties with the evacuation are caused by “interagency disagreements arising from overlapping mandates and the absence of established operational guidelines for such circumstances.”

“The House is aware of ongoing difficulties with the evacuation efforts and the federal government’s response to the developments in the Republic of Sudan,” Mr Gbajabiamila said.

Gbajabiamila instructed the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to summon Geoffrey Onyeama, the minister of foreign affairs, and officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), to brief the House in order to resolve the problem.

“I have requested the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to invite the honourable minister of Foreign Affairs and officials from the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to appear before the House to give an account of the status of evacuation efforts,” he said.

He added that the House will review the legal framework establishing the agencies to prevent future occurrences.

“We must further revisit the statutory and other frameworks that have left us seemingly unprepared to respond promptly and effectively,” he said.

Remember how Hotjist.com revealed that the Nigerian government hired 40 buses on Wednesday to commence the first phase of the evacuation of its citizens from the unrest-stricken Sudan.

However, the arrival of the first batch of evacuees has been delayed due to logistics and diplomatic issues at the Egyptian border, the head of NiDCOM Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said Thursday.

The Nigerians arrived at the Egyptian border but were not let into Egypt by the authorities there.