The Vice President of External Affairs, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Akinteye Babatunde, says the standard of living of Nigerian students in Sudan is quickly deteriorating.
“The rising panic and tension in the state are building up; these students should be evacuated to states where the battle is not too intense,” Babatunde said during Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily, on Monday.
He said that “if we are talking about the students’ living conditions in Sudan, it is worse than ever. They can’t go out to get anything, they can’t buy food, they can’t buy provisions, they can’t get anything.
“Some of them hardly feed daily. They can’t do anything, they can’t go out, the network is bad, and the electricity is unstable. They are just hoping and praying, optimistic, staying indoors. The state capital is where the battle is going on.”
According to him, the living conditions of the students are nothing to write home about. He added that there are expectations of the embassy to take drastic actions.
“Some of them hardly bath, they hardly eat, there is no freedom. With the tension, they hear the sound of a bomb blast every day. Some said that anytime there are shootings, the bullets fly into their rooms, that is the situation the students are in presently.
“The situation in Sudan is getting worse by the day. If you call the students, they speak in fear, they speak under tension, you cannot hear what they are saying, they are scared for their lives. We have students who are hypertensive and this is dangerous for them.
“The tension has been building up which we expect the embassy or the consulates to have taken some actions,” he said.
Babatunde appealed to the Federal Government to find to provide Nigerians in the conflict-hit North African nation with relief materials, which he said would reduce the tension amongst Nigerians.
“The authorities can also help by getting relief materials across to our students on those campuses, which is not impossible. We have written to NEMA, students don’t have food, and our diplomats have been evacuated from that country.
“If there is a way, they can get relief materials, food or daily provisions across to them there. It would also drowse the tension there because it is lack of food that is making some of them make their way to the Ethiopia border,” he said.