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Sudan: ‘Gunshots Everywhere, We Paid To Urinate, Bath, Brush’ Returnees Recount Ordeals

Published

2 years ago

May 5, 2023

Sudan returnees who were airlifted back home by Air Peace have narrated the horrific experience of the crisis in the country, saying they experienced sporadic gunfire and thought they would not see another day in Nigeria.

The no fewer than 376 Nigerians who were the first batch of evacuees from war-torn Sudan, arrived in Nigeria late Wednesday night.

The returnees, who were first evacuated to Egypt, touched down at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja about 11.30p.m., and 11.54p.m., respectively and were received by aides of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Faruk, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency and Nigeria in Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM, among others.

Among them is a 32-year-old woman, Zainab Haruna, who said she had lost hope of survival in Sudan, adding that she went incommunicado and without water for days.

Others were the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Nasir Gwarzo; Director General, National Emergency Management Agency, Ahmed Habib; and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

The returnees were airlifted back by Air Peace, which brought back 282 persons and C-130 aircraft of the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, 94 returnees.

The evacuees had encountered numerous encumbrances following stringent formalities issued by the Egyptian authorities to enable their airlift back to Nigeria.

Among them is a 32-year-old woman, Zainab Haruna, who said she had lost hope of survival in Sudan, adding that she went incommunicado and without water for days.

“My experience in Sudan was horrible. Things were going fine, although we had rumours of a looming crisis but we didn’t take it seriously, only to wake up to gunshots and people running everywhere to save their lives,” she said.

Another returnee, Clement Mustapha, had arrived Sudan to study for a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Studies, a few weeks before the war started.

Mustapha said Sudan was like hell for him, adding that at some point, he had to say his last prayers and waited for the worst to happen.

I said my last prayers and waited for death

His words: “Sudan currently is not where your worst enemy should be. Have you seen war movies and how terrible they are? We just went through that. I am sure some people here may end up using drugs to stabilise their mind because it was draining and scary. We spent days walking to safety, hiding and explaining ourselves to gunmen, whose minds are in their guns. We begged for water. There was no electricity to charge our phones, because there was tension everywhere. We trekked under the sun and I heard that some of our ladies were molested.”

I didn’t know I’d ever return to Nigeria

Also speaking, Margaret Dauda, while expressing gratitude to the Federal Government for coming through for them, said they had given up hope of returning to Nigeria.

Her words: “Many other people from different countries are experiencing pain but I thank God for how Nigeria has come through for us because we literally saw the face of death in war. We saw a bullet. That’s something I have never seen or even heard before.

“We woke up on Saturday morning with heavy bombings and fire everywhere. It was that bad. I don’t know how to describe it, it is something that we have not seen before, we only saw it in the movies.”

We were sexualy harrased, broke, stole to survive — students

Recounting their ordeals, some students among the returnees said that some females were sexually harassed and were so broke to the extent of picking things from shops and running away.

A returnee female student told journalists on arrival that they faced humiliation and slept in the open.

“We spent all the money we had. We were so hungry and thirsty. They were harassing us sexualy. There was no food, no water to drink. It got to the point we picked things from shops and ran away,” she said.

Another female student told the BBC Hausa Service in an interview, that their legs were swollen due to long hours of stay in the buses.

We paid money to be allowed to urinate

A male student, who had a semester to finish his studies said the situation was so bad that they even had to pay money before they were allowed to urinate. He prayed that the war should end soon to enable him go back to Sudan and complete just a semester to round up his programme.

We paid to bathe, brush teeth

Miss Fathai Alliory said the Nigeria missions in Egypt and Sudan did not take care of them. “They didn’t give us food, they didn’t give us water, they didn’t give us anything, we had to pay to take our bath, you pay to brush your teeth, you pay to do anything you want to do and things were very expensive there.

Refusal of Nigeria missions to pay visa fees delayed our evacuation
“We got to know that one of the reasons that we were delayed for days was that the Nigerian Mission in Egypt was not ready to pay for our visa, so, the Egyptian government was waiting for us to pay for our visa and we learned that the Federal Government gave them money to make all the necessary arrangements for us to leave the country.”

Sharing his experience, Mr. Ibrahim Musa, a student, who lived on the outskirts of the capital, Khartoum, said he was devastated when he heard sounds of gunshots and grenades.

“At the time I started hearing the sound of gunshots, the first thing that came to my mind was to escape and I thank God this is where I am,” Musa said.

I feared my children may not survive

A father, Ibrahim Sardius, who was on standby to receive his children, said: “I feared my children may not survive the war in Sudan because the videos I saw and things I heard were horrible. I stayed days praying and was following the government closely to know what to do. At some point, I lost contact with my children but with faith I came here today to see that they are here. I am really grateful.”

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BREAKING: Council Of State Approves New INEC Chairman

Published

40 minutes ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

The National Council of State has unanimously approved the appointment of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

This was contained in a statement posted on X by the President’s aide, Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday.

President Bola Tinubu presented Amupitan’s name to the Council during its meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday. The appointment follows the exit of Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who completed his 10-year tenure in October 2025.

Tinubu told the Council that Amupitan, a 58-year-old Professor of Law from Kogi State, is the first person from the North-Central state to be nominated for the position.

More details later…

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Full List: UI Dethrones Covenant University In Latest Rankings

Published

45 minutes ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

The University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo State, has been ranked Nigeria’s best university in the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.

The ranking, released on Thursday via THE’s official website, placed UI within the 801–1,000 band globally—reclaiming a position it last held in 2023. The institution moved up from fourth place in the 2025 rankings to surpass Covenant University, which had topped the list in 2024 and 2025.

THE evaluated of 2,191 institutions from 115 countries based on 18 performance indicators grouped under five key areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry engagement, and international outlook.

Following UI in Nigeria’s ranking are the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Bayero University, Kano (BUK), and Covenant University (CU), ranked second, third, and fourth, respectively.

The 2026 global ranking also reflected a changing higher education landscape, drawing on 174.9 million citations from 18.7 million research publications and survey responses from over 108,000 scholars worldwide.

Among Nigerian universities, UNILAG achieved the highest score in research quality, with 66.7 points. BUK ranked best for international outlook, while Covenant University led in industry engagement.

Of the 51 Nigerian universities featured in the 2026 ranking, only UI and UNILAG were placed within the 801–1,000 band. BUK, CU, and Landmark University were ranked between 1,001–1,200, while Ahmadu Bello University, Federal University of Technology Minna, University of Ilorin, University of Jos, and University of Nigeria Nsukka fell within the 1,201–1,500 range.

Additionally, 14 Nigerian universities were placed above 1,500, while 27 institutions were listed as “not ranked.”

THE is a globally recognised independent organisation that provides data and insights on higher education performance.

Universities are considered for the rankings if they teach undergraduates, produce multidisciplinary research, and have published at least 1,000 research papers between 2020 and 2024, with a minimum of 100 annually.

See the full list below:

1. University of Ibadan (801–1000)

2. University of Lagos (801–1000)

3. Bayero University (1001–1200)

4. Covenant University (1001–1200)

5. Landmark University (1001–1200)

6. Ahmadu Bello University (1201–1500)

7. Federal University of Technology, Minna (1201–1500)

8. University of Ilorin (1201–1500)

9. University of Jos (1201–1500)

10. University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1201–1500)

11. Babcock University (1501+)

12.Delta State University, Abraka (1501+)

13. Ekiti State University (1501+)

14. Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (1501+)

15. Federal University of Technology, Akure (1501+)

16. Federal University of Technology, Owerri (1501+)

17. Federal University Oye-Ekiti (1501+)

18. Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (1501+)

19. Lagos State University (1501+)

20. Nnamdi Azikiwe University (1501+)

21. Obafemi Awolowo University (1501+)

22. University of Benin (1501+)

23. University of Calabar (1501+)

24. University of Port Harcourt (1501+)

25. Admiralty University of Nigeria

26. Akwa Ibom State University

27. Al-Hikmah University

28. Augustine University

29. Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti

30. Bauchi State University, Gadau

31. Bayelsa Medical University

32. Baze University

33. Bells University of Technology

34. Bowen University

35. Evangel University, Akaeze

36. Federal University of Lafia

37. Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun

38. Fountain University

39. Godfrey Okoye University

40. Igbinedion University Okada

41. Kaduna State University

42. Lagos State University of Education

43. Lagos State University of Science and Technology

44. Lead City University

45. Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria

46. Nasarawa State University, Keffi

47. Redeemer’s University

48. Rivers State University

49. Thomas Adewumi University

50. University of Cross River State

51. University of Delta.

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Elon Musk Joins ‘Cancel Netflix’ Campaign

Published

50 minutes ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

Elon Musk has urged his 227 million social media followers to cancel their Netflix subscriptions, accusing the streaming platform of promoting what he describes as transgender propaganda.

In his latest culture war campaign, the Tesla tycoon joined a trend launched by conservative social media account Libs of TikTok that cited the animated series “Dead End: Paranormal Park” and Netflix’s corporate diversity efforts as a cause for dropping the streaming service.

The show’s creator, Hamish Steele, is accused of making social media remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September that were seen by conservatives online as disrespectful and led to the backlash.

Netflix’s shares fell two percent on Wednesday when the controversy gained traction and were down as much as another two percent Thursday on Wall Street.

“Cancel Netflix,” Musk wrote in a Wednesday post on X, the platform he owns, quoting another post made by Libs of TikTok.

That post shared screenshots of a Netflix company report that said it had increased the number of non-white directors and lead actors on its programs.

In a later post on the issue, Musk encouraged his followers to “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids.”
Steele addressed the controversy in a few Bluesky posts that have since been deleted: “It’s all lies and slander!”

Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, has a personal connection to transgender issues. His eldest daughter, Vivian
Jenna Wilson, publicly transitioned in 2022 and legally changed both her name and gender identity.

Musk has claimed his child was “killed” by the “woke mind virus” instilled at an elite California school.