Nearly four hundred Nigerians evacuated from Sudan have arrived home after days of difficult journey by road and air.
They were the first batch of Nigerians to be repatriated as mass exodus of foreigners from Sudan continues due to the ongoing fighting in the North African country.
Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, the government agency in charge of the affairs of Nigerians living abroad, said about ''376 evacuees'' arrived in the capital Abuja on Wednesday night.
Many of the evacuees looked exhausted on arrival but said they were happy to be back home after escaping the violence in Sudan.
They were airlifted via a military plane and a commercial aircraft from the town of Aswan Egypt for the five-hour flight after traveling in a convoy of 13 buses from Sudan's capital Khartoum and being stranded for several days at the Egyptian border due to vis issues.
Egyptian authorities had refused the Nigerians permission to cross the border when they left Sudan on Thursday last week but on Monday agreed to let them cross after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari intervened, according to the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission.
Another 20 buses prepared to evacuate hundreds more Nigerians are reportedly still in Sudan.
That convoy would no longer travel to Egypt, but to Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea 675 kilometres (420 miles) from Khartoum, from where they should then fly back to Nigeria, a National Emergency Management Agency spokesperson told AFP.
According to Nigerian authorities, the evacuation plan covers more than 3,500 nationals, but their total number could be greater.
Several thousand Nigerians reside in Sudan, many of them students and business people.
The fighting in Sudan has killed at least 550 people, displaced tens of thousands and triggered an exodus of foreigners.
The fighting parties - the Sudanese army and the rapid Support Forces agreed on a seven-day ceasefire on with effect from Wednesday as international pressure for an end to the bloodshed increases.
The two sides who were allies have been fighting for control of the country since last month after weeks of disagreement over a planned transition to civilian rule with the integration of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces into the regular army being the main sticking issue.
