24th April, 2023
Air Peace, a private Nigerian airline, has stated its readiness to evacuate Nigerian nationals who are stranded in war-torn Sudan for free.
The airline’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Allen Onyema, made the announcement on Monday.
He noted that the offer could only be possible on the condition that the Nigerian government can transport them to a safe and secure airport in any of Sudan’s neighbouring countries.
This comes barely a few hours after the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs revealed the government’s plans to evacuate the stranded Nigerians by road from the Northeast African country.
The statement reads: “Again, Air Peace is willing to evacuate Nigerians stranded in Sudan free of charge if the government can get them to a safe and secure airport in any of the neighbouring countries bordering Sudan. Everything must not be left for the government and the government alone.
“It will be a privilege and honour of tremendous pride that we will be out there to give every Nigerian stranded in Sudan a sense of pride and oneness in their country.
“We are very ready to do it immediately. No time wasting. Any action that would promote national pride, national cohesion, peace and unity, we are for it.
“Again, we have no apologies for believing in our nation and loving the nation despite certain national challenges. If they are moved to Kenya or Uganda or any other country, we will move in to get them out. Some parents have started calling on us to help. We are ready to do this again and again.”
This is not the first time that the airline has offered to be of service to the nation by flying stranded Nigerians back home from foreign lands, especially in dire circumstances.
In 2019, during xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Air Peace volunteered to send an aircraft to South Africa to evacuate Nigerians who wished to return to the country, free of charge.
The airline later evacuated willing Nigerians out from South Africa at no cost on September 11 and 18, 2019.