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.

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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.”

READ ALSO: Sudan: Battles Rage On As UN Warns Of ‘Catastrophe’

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.

READ ALSO: [BREAKING] Sudan Conflict: 350 Passengers Arrive Aswan Airport, Egypt

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.”

VANGUARD