The minister also stated that transporting thousands of Nigerians from Sudan by road would be difficult in the face of conflict.
The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed its plans to evacuate Nigerian nationals who are stranded in Sudan due to the ongoing conflict in the Northeast African country.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama on Sunday night during a live programme on Channels Television said 5,500 Nigerians were ready for evacuation.
He said, “We have been given the cost estimate and all the details. They gave us a figure of 5,500 who are ready for evacuation.
“Obviously, what you need in a situation like this is a place where everybody can congregate before you start moving them out. Because the airports, as you pointed out in your report, it is out of commission. The only viable way out is by road.
“But of course, it is not totally safe so you are going to require the government to provide some security and a safe corridor out.”
The minister also stated that transporting thousands of Nigerians from Sudan by road would be difficult in the face of conflict.
He continued: “Our situation is particularly challenging because the numbers are so great. Some the countries like the US and European countries have started evacuating.
“But what they’ve been evacuating were actually their diplomatic staff. They haven’t been able to start evacuating their citizens there. We can’t evacuate all our diplomatic staff at the moment because they need to also coordinate the evacuation of all those students that we’re talking about.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, had advised its citizens, particularly students to remain indoors.
It noted that it was still dangerous to travel towards Sudan's borders without security clearance and assurance from Sudanese authorities.
SaharaReporters had reported how at least 4,000 Nigerian students were stranded in Sudan following the ongoing crisis in the country.
The students lamented that there had been a scarcity of water, food, electricity and other basic amenities since the crisis broke out in the country.