Reports alleging that some Nigerians of Igbo background were intentionally left behind in Sudan, which is currently ravaged by war, have been debunked.
There were earlier reports which alleged that the chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa issued the directive for the Igbos in Sudan to be left behind in favour of other ethnic backgrounds.
A viral video that circulated on social media claimed Igbo indigenes in Sudan were stranded, while one of the indigenes narrated how they (Igbo) were asked to alight from the bus for Nigerians of other extraction to take their place.
Based on this, an Igbo youth-based group identified as the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) described the alleged abandonment of Igbo indigenes in Sudan during an evacuation exercise as barbaric and wicked.
However, reacting to the allegation, NIDCOM, in a statement yesterday, signed by its Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, Abdur-Rahman Balogun described the allegation as a wicked lie.
It said those responsible for spreading the reports didn’t bother to cross-check the claim or get the side of the NIDCOM boss, Dabiri-Erewa.
Balogun explained in the statement that what happened was that during the boarding process, some persons including non-Nigerians jumped into the buses violently, some with daggers, through the windows.
This prompted the officials in order to bring sanity and to abide by the instruction of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to instruct that priority should be given to women, children, and students, to start calling them in according to states in alphabetical order, beginning with Abia State.
The Commission added that if some people arrived after the stipulated time or did not show up at the point of pick up, they can’t put the blame on its own officials.
NIDCOM, in the statement, debunked any accusation of ethnic bias in the onboarding of citizens stranded in Sudan and absolved Dabiri and all other officials of any form of wrong doing.
