A number of Nigerian evacuees from crisis-torn Sudan are expected to arrive in Nigeria today.
Nigerian authorities have refused to announce any date of the evacuees’ arrival.
However, developments in Egypt and Port Sudan have indicated that the first batch of Nigerian evacuees may arrive either in Abuja or Lagos today.
The evacuees, who left Khartoum last Wednesday and had been stranded at the Egyptian border for six days finally got the nod of the Egyptian authorities on Monday to proceed on their journey.
The Federal Government through the Nigerian in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) says the first batch of Nigerian students evacuated from Sudan will arrive Abuja in hours.
The Chairman of the Commission, Abike Dabiri -Erewa stated this on Tuesday.
According to her, the Embassy in Egypt has successfully moved evacuees from the Sudanese side to the Egyptian side of the Arqeel Border.
She added that the team at Abusimbel will be evacuating the Wadi Halfa group on Wednesday morning and those at the Port Sudan border, which is the third group, will be evacuated last because they just arrived the border on Tuesday.
The Commission further stated that the students were being prepared for their departure to Abuja through the Aswan Airport.
As of Tuesday, planes of the AirPeace and the Nigerian Air Force are waiting to convey the students to Abuja after the necessary documentation.
According to the Commission, priority was given to female students amongst the 449 students across the border.
Weeks of heavy fighting have killed hundreds of people, left bodies rotting in the streets, and some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins.
The latest conflict is between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the heavily armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in the Darfur region two decades ago, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.