Headline

Sudan: Nigerians Stranded In Desert, Lament After buses’ Fuel Finished

Published

2 years ago

April 27, 2023

…said we might face the war again

Nigerians are currently stranded on the journey from Khartoum to Cairo after the drivers of the buses paid to evacuate them complained that their fuel finished and that Federal Government has not remunerated them for the service.

As of the time of filing this report at 2:20 pm, our correspondent gathered that none of the Embassy officials are on the ground to explain to stranded Nigerians, especially the students why the drivers have stopped the buses over their claim.

The PUNCH reports that the evacuation of 2,400 students and other Nigerians trapped by the ongoing conflict in Sudan took off on a slow start on Wednesday as only 15 out of the 40 buses required for the exercise were provided.

Although the Federal Government hired 40 buses for the repatriation of the citizens from Khartoum and other cities to Egypt, only 10 buses were available as of Wednesday morning, while additional five buses were provided later in the day (Wednesday).

Speaking with The PUNCH on Thursday, some students fear that the three-day ceasefire declared by the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Force expires Thursday (today) and they are yet to make buses available.

The Chairman of the Nigerian Community (Elders Forum) in Sudan, Dr Hashim Na’Allah, stated “People are hungry and there is no concrete information from either the Embassy or the Committee in charge of the buses.

“People are sitting outside under high temperatures. The temperature is very high that people are thirsty. Nowhere to find water to drink or buy food to eat.

“In the next two to three days, if nothing is done to address this situation, Nigerian students might start dying.”

A female student who spoke on anonymity noted, “We are 150 females mostly from Jigawa and we are stranded. The Embassy said they are not sending buses to us.

“The bus owners have been complaining that they do not have fuel but we are not even seeing the buses. They are not ready to release any of the buses because people are running away from the country.

“Today is the last day of the ceasefire. We woke up to gunshots this morning. If we do not leave here today, I do not know what becomes of us.”

In a video sighted, a student was seen crying and saying “Because your family, children, and nephews are on the bus, that is why we are left behind. We are afraid. We do not have water, hunger, and food. These soldiers, their barracks are very close to us here, (International University of Africa). There have been gunshots since last night. No one is here for us.”

The President of the Jigawa State Students Association in Sudan, Umar Abubakar said he has been out since 5 am waiting for a bus to evacuate them.

Abubakar noted, “We are disappointed in everything. We are outside under the sun since 5 am waiting for the buses, not even one official from the embassy is around. Those people are just playing us along.”

He added that those who were evacuated from Khartoum to Egypt have been stranded since yesterday (Wednesday) at a border between Sudan and Egypt.

Abubakar said, “Even those that left for Egypt yesterday are now stranded on their way because the drivers said they have not been paid and that they are not moving an inch until they are paid, or else they will drop the students there and return.”

Confirming this, a student of Noble College in Sudan, Idris Wakama, said “The drivers dropped our students in the middle of the desert. We do not know what is happening. They collected $100 from some of our students on the buses. The Federal Government needs to address the situation quickly.”

In a video obtained by our correspondent, students were stranded long frustrated in a quiet and desert environment.

A female was seen yelling, “Before we started this journey, we fought and now that we have the privilege of moving, the drivers dropped us in the middle of this desert. We have been stuck here for five hours.

“We do not have money nor water. We are in an unknown environment and it is very dangerous.”

Headline

Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

Published

2 hours ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may go to the Middle East at the end of this week as a peace deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is “very close.”

Trump said during an event at the White House that he would “go to Egypt most likely” but that he would also consider going to war-torn Gaza.

“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually. And we’ll see, but there is a very good chance. Negotiations are going along very well,” Trump told reporters at the start of the event.

“Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas, and it seems to be going well. So we’ll let you know, if that’s the case, we’ll be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe on Saturday.”

Near the end of the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio unexpectedly entered the room and handed Trump a note.

The US president told reporters the note said that “we’re very close to a deal” and that his presence was needed. “I have to go now to try and solve some problems in the Middle East,” he added.

Hamas and Israeli officials are having indirect talks in Egypt on a 20-point peace proposal unveiled by Trump to end the two-year-old war.

– ‘Very close’ –

Trump said as he began the event that he had come off the phone with officials in the Middle East, where his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner had just joined discussions in Egypt.

“‘Peace for the Middle East,’ that’s a beautiful phrase, and we hope it’s going to come true, but it’s very close, and they’re doing very well,” Trump added.

“We have a great team over there, great negotiators, and they’re, unfortunately, great negotiators on the other side also. But it’s something I think that will happen.”

Asked if he would consider going to Gaza if a deal happens, Trump replied: “I would, yeah. I would. I might do that. I may do that. We haven’t decided exactly.”

Trump said he would insist on the release of hostages held by Hamas before traveling to the region.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier that he had received “encouraging” signs and hailed the support of Trump.

Hamas too expressed “optimism” over the indirect discussions with its foe Israel.

Trump’s plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
AFP

Headline

INTERPOL Arrests Nigerian In Argentina Over Multi-country Romance Scam

Published

10 hours ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

A Nigerian national identified as Ikechukwu N. has been arrested in Argentina for allegedly orchestrating multiple online romance scams targeting thousands of victims across several countries, according to a statement released by INTERPOL on Tuesday.

The arrest was made under Operation Jackal, an INTERPOL-led operation focusing on West African organised criminal groups involved in cyber fraud, money laundering, and related transnational crimes.

INTERPOL announced via its official X handle that Ikechukwu’s arrest marked Argentina’s first arrest of a fugitive under a Red Notice who was simultaneously listed in the organisation’s Silver Notice database — a new project aimed at tracing and recovering criminal assets worldwide.

The statement read: “Argentine authorities have captured Nigerian national Ikechukwu N., marking the country’s first arrest of a #RedNotice fugitive who was also the subject of an INTERPOL Silver Notice. The suspect is accused of orchestrating multiple romance scams involving thousands of women, and leading an international cybercrime network.”

INTERPOL added that the arrest was jointly carried out by the Argentine Federal Police and the Airport Security Police, with assistance from the INTERPOL Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC), the Federal Intelligence Secretariat (FIS), and INTERPOL Brazil.

The Silver Notice project, piloted in January 2025, enables member countries to share intelligence on the location and recovery of illicitly acquired assets linked to transnational crime.

Although details of the victims and total financial losses remain undisclosed, the operation is part of a broader international crackdown on cyber-enabled fraud schemes traced to West African syndicates.

Nigeria has been a focal point of similar investigations. In December 2024, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced the arrest of 792 suspects — including foreign nationals — linked to a crypto-romance fraud ring operating from Lagos.

The syndicate reportedly targeted victims in the Americas and Europe through social media and messaging platforms, promising relationships and fake investment opportunities before defrauding them.

INTERPOL said further investigations into Ikechukwu’s activities are ongoing, with cooperation expected between Argentine authorities, Nigerian law enforcement, and other international partners involved in Operation Jackal.

Always ask who coin these words, who to benefit from such words

Headline

Eswatini Jails 10 Africans Deported From US

Published

2 days ago

October 6, 2025

Editor

The African kingdom of Eswatini said it received and jailed 10 more deportees from the United States on Monday as part of a US scheme to expel undocumented migrants.

Eswatini took in a first group of five men in July, with Ghana, Rwanda, and South Sudan also accepting US deportees in recent months in a programme criticised by rights groups.

The tiny southern African nation agreed in May to accept up to 160 deportees in exchange for $5.1 million to “build its border and migration management capacity”, according to a deal signed with the United States and seen by AFP.

Its correctional services department said in a statement Monday it “confirms the arrival of ten (10) third country nationals from the United States of America”.

It did not give details but said they had been “securely accommodated in one of the country’s correctional facilities” and the government would “facilitate their orderly repatriation”.

A US-based attorney representing some of the deportees said the new group included “three Vietnamese, one Filipino, one Cambodian”.

The lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen, represents two of the Vietnamese nationals who arrived Monday.

“One of my clients … tried to assert a reasonable fear of harm being deported to Eswatini, but ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) ignored him and put him on the plane anyways,” he told AFP.

He also represents a Vietnamese and a Laotian who were part of the first group which also included nationals from Cuba, Jamaica and Yemen.

– ‘Legal black hole’ –

The deal that Eswatini signed with the United States on May 14 says that the US deportees may include third country nationals “with criminal backgrounds and/or who are designated suspected terrorists”.

Washington said the first group of men had been convicted of crimes in the United States, including child rape and murder, but their lawyers told AFP that all five had long finished serving their sentences.

Eswatini jailed them in its maximum security Matsapha Correctional Centre which is notorious for holding political prisoners and for overcrowding.

One of them, a 62-year-old Jamaican who had reportedly completed a sentence for murder in the United States, was sent back to his country around two weeks ago.

Nguyen said Eswatini was a “legal black hole” and the deportees were denied legal counsel.

His two clients had been detained since mid-July without a charge, he said.

“I cannot call them. I cannot email them. I cannot communicate through local counsel because the Eswatini government blocks all attorney access,” he told AFP.

Lawyers and civil society groups in Eswatini have gone to court to challenge the legality of the detentions.

A local lawyer on Friday won a court ruling allowing him to visit the four men still detained, but the government immediately appealed, suspending the ruling.

US President Donald Trump has overseen a drastic expansion of the practice of deporting people to countries other than their nation of origin, notably by sending hundreds to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

But rights experts have warned the deportations risk breaking international law by sending people to nations where they face the risk of torture, abduction and other abuses.

Human Rights Watch last month urged African governments to refuse to accept US deportees and to terminate deals already in effect, saying they violated global rights law.

Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland and landlocked by neighbours South Africa and Mozambique, has been led by King Mswati III since 1986 and his government has been accused of human rights violations.