Not less than 277 Nigerians caught stranded in ongoing Sudan crisis have been successfully airlifted from Egypt by Nigerian leading airline, Air Peace.
Air Peace deployed one of its wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft with Registration Number 5N-BVE, to operate the evacuation flight which arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, around 23:00hrs on Wednesday, May 4, 2023.
The aircraft had departed the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos at 15:10hrs on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, in his unique show of altruism and patriotism, had offered to freely airlift Nigerians from the war-hit North East African country, requesting the Federal Government to get them to a neighbouring country, as the Sudanese airspace is temporarily closed for civil aviation.
Onyema said the stranded Nigerians needed urgent assistance, adding that: “I am compelled to help because Nigeria cannot afford to lose her citizens in that country. It would be my own commitment to making sure that the stranded Nigerians in the war-torn country are safe.
“Everything must not be left for the government alone, especially as the situation calls for urgency and immediate action”.
He stated in a recent interview on Arise TV, that he was ready to deploy three aircraft, including the jumbo Boeing 777, to airlift his fellow countrymen seeking safety from the troubled North African country.
With the arrival of this flight, Onyema has made good his promise and thanked the Federal Government for its role in making the evacuation flight possible.
Onyema has been known to show magnanimity by deploying his aircraft for humanitarian purposes. It can be recalled that in 2019, he freely airlifted 503 stranded Nigerians amidst the xenophobic onslaught in South Africa. During the COVID-19 period in 2020, some of his aircraft were also used for repatriation of Nigerians from several countries, not forgetting the evacuation flights operated by his airline during the Ukraine-Russia crisis in 2022.
