National Association of Nigerian Students asks Buhari to evacuate its 4,000 members in Ukraine

NIGERIA'S student body in the Ukraine has written to the federal government asking it to consider evacuating them from the country in the light of the recently outbreak of hostilities with Russia.

On Wednesday, what had been sabre rattling between the two Eastern European giants developed into an all out war, with Russia launching air strikes against Ukraine's capital Kiev. Both nations have been at loggerheads over Ukraine's plans to join the Western military alliance the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), which Russia opposes.

Over the last month, Russia has had its troops massed on its western border with Ukraine and last week, the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which are populated by Russians, declared themselves independent. With the matter escalating into a Russian attack this week, the Ukrainian government declared a state of emergency and martial law in the country.

Amid fears that the conflict could develop into a full scale bloody war, the National Association of Nigerian Students (Nans) in the Ukraine, has sent a Save Our Soul message to President Muhammadu Buhari to evacuate them. It is estimated that there are about 4,000 Nigerian students in the Ukraine, as Morocco, Nigeria and Egypt account for about 20% of all foreign students in the country.

Eunice Eleaka, the acting president of Nans Ukraine, has written a letter to President Buhari, which reads: “We write to you with regards to the current Russia-Ukraine conflict which has finally risen to its maximum early this morning being February 24, 2022 as gunshots and explosives have raided the territories occupied by the Nigerian citizens.

“We plead with your Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, to please send for an immediate evacuation of the Nigerian students currently in Ukraine. We can only trust and wait on our great nation in this perilous time.

“It would be of great honour, if our request is deliberately considered and met with urgency as it calls for. Forever this kind and fatherly gesture would be engraved in our hearts. Thank you so much in anticipation Mr President.”

Although Ms Eleaka, has found her way out of Ukraine, she said many other Nigerians were stuck because of the cost of flight tickets. In the wake of the conflict, ticket prices have soared, prompting Ms Eleaka  to ask Nigeria to come up with a proper evacuation strategy like India.

Ms Eleaka said: “I left before the invasion as the news on possible invasion has been out there for a while now. My parents got really worried and got me a flight ticket to return home.

“I’m sure most students really wanted to leave too but the flight tickets got really expensive and the need to leave then seemed impromptu. I heard some cities still had their classes offline but we were ensuring every school goes online.

“The Embassy of India in Poland has set up a camp office in Krakowiec on the Polish-Ukraine border. This office will facilitate transit via Poland back to India of Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine. They gave out telephone numbers of the officials in charge.”

Although the Nigerian government has promised to evacuate the students once the airports re-open, it remains unclear how long they will remain closed. Foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama, said the Nigerian embassy in Kiev had been contacted to finalise the arrangements for those willing to return to the country from Ukraine.