30,000 Nigerians still stranded in Central African Republic

    
About 30,000 Nigerians are still stranded in the crisis-ridden Central African Republic, 12 days after  the Chairman, House of Representatives on Foreign Affairs, Nnenna Ukeje, announced the Federal Government’s plan to evacuate Nigerians from the country.
Ukeje had on December 18, during a live interview on the NigerianTelevision Authority network news, disclosed that the Federal Government had perfected plans to evacuate 200 Nigerians in Bangui, the country’s capital.

She said the 200 Nigerians were currently taking refuge at the Nigeria Embassy in Bangui, putting the official number of Nigerians living in CAR at 30,000.

She said the committee had engaged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Emergency Management Agency to immediately provide an aircraft for their evacuation.

The CAR has been in turmoil since rebel leader Michel Djotodia ousted President Francois Bozize in March.

Ukeje also called for the establishment of a department in the foreign ministry to respond actively to crisis situations for Nigerians caught up in flash-points abroad.
But checks by The PUNCH on Sunday in Abuja revealed that the evacuation had not begun despite reported cry by a Nigerian community leader resident in Bangui, Muhammad Kalanbai.

Punch