Sudan crisis: Reps summon Onyeama, Dabiri, NEMA officials

***Blame inter-agency rivalry for challenges in evacuation

Worried over the challenges associated with the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Sudan, the House of Representatives on Tuesday summoned the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri.

The lawmakers also invited officials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

They are to brief the House on the evacuation of Nigerians from the crisis-ridden country.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila issued the invite on Tuesday at the resumption of plenary.

He directed the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Buba to issue the invite.

The ongoing civil war in Sudan has led to the emergency evacuation of Nigerians in the war-torn country which has however been besieged by problems.

According to Gbajabiamila, the evacuation is experiencing challenges due to inter-agency rivalry.

He stated: “The House is aware of ongoing difficulties with the evacuation efforts and the federal government’s response to the developments in the Republic of Sudan. We are also mindful that some of these difficulties flow from interagency disagreements arising from overlapping mandates and the absence of established operational guidelines for such circumstances”.