By Charles Adingupu
No fewer than 125 evacuees, including 22 children, landed Nigeria from war-ravaged Sudan aboard a Tarco Airline Boeing 737.
The batch arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja by.5 pm Nigerian time.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, 2,518 Nigerians had hitherto been evacuated and 15 flights operated to return the evacuees.
On hand to receive them were officials of the National Management Emergency Agency (NEMA); the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).
Upon arrival, the evacuees were processed into the country by officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service using their passports and Emergency Travel Certificates (ETCs).
This is the first set of evacuees since President Bola Tinubu took office on May 29.
The Federal Government, on May 14, said 160 women claiming to be Nigerians in Sudan had no passports to fly back to the country.
The NEMA Director General, Mustapha Ahmed, said the agency had to be cautious against evacuating persons who were not Nigerians.
Before the commencement of the evacuation exercise, the Nigerian Diaspora Commission had said there were about three million Nigerians in Sudan and a total of 5,000 students.
