Abuja, 1 March 2022 (TDI): Protesters marched on the Russian Embassy in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. Capital Abuja witnessed a protest in front of the Russian Embassy calling for peace in Ukraine and the safe evacuation of their children.
The protesters demanded the safe return of their loved ones back to Nigeria safe and sound. “We didn’t want that our children, brothers and sisters, and relatives stay there and suffer from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. We need peace because of our children,” said the protestors.
Ukraine air and train services out of the country are shut down, due to the Russian invasion. As a result, Nigerian authorities are helpless to evacuate all the Nigerian nationals from Ukraine. According to reports, some 5,600 Nigerian students are stuck in Ukraine.
Nigerian Nationals evacuation
A total of 256 Nigerian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine. This is out of the 5,600 Nigerian nationals in Ukraine, while most of them are students.
According to the Nigerian government they had received 130 Nigerian personnel from Ukraine at Bucharest and Romania since Sunday.
UPDATE FOR NIGERIANS IN UKRAINE pic.twitter.com/Rl8JYY8FBK
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria 🇳🇬 (@NigeriaMFA) February 27, 2022
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria also announces that these citizens will be landed back in Nigeria. Arrangements in this regard are underway.
Ministry also explained that it is providing accommodation and medical support to all the Nigerian citizens under their access. Additionally, the diplomatic missions in Hungary and Romania announced in a statement that Hungary and Romania have approved visa-free access to all Nigerians coming from Ukraine.
The Foreign Ministry of the Nigerian government also stated that it was aware of the difficulties. All possible measures were considered and the Ministry is taking adequate measures to overcome these challenges.
Discriminations
Recent news reports show that Nigerians are facing discrimination at the Poland border while leaving the war-torn country. There is a growing concern that African students are facing discrimination by security officials at the Poland border.
Garba Shehu, Official Spokesperson to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stated that there have been unfortunate reports of Ukrainian police and security personnel refusing to allow Nigerians to board buses and trains heading towards the Ukraine-Poland border.
Also, various new channels highlight the same that Africans are being discriminated against at the Poland border. The Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, said that “All who flee a conflict situation have the same right to the safe passage under UN convention and the color of their passport or their skin should make no difference.”
