Federal government has said all Nigerians crossing over to Poland would have officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland waiting to pick them.
A statement issued last night by the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gabriel Aduda, explained that the government is making necessary arrangements for the evacuation of those stranded in Ukraine through the Embassy in Warsaw, Poland.
It asked them to present their destination address with the border controls 02-953, Kosiarzy 22B, 02-956 Warszawa.
“It added that Nigerian Embassy staff and along with volunteers will be at the Polish-Ukrainian borders with buses and vans to pick up Nigerians from the crossing border points and locations.
Meanwhile, fighting has reached the streets of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv yesterday as Russia pressed ahead with its invasion. But Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to defend the country, vowing he would not surrender.
READ ALSO: APC Chairmanship: ‘Buhari has not adopted any candidate’
Nearly 200 people have been killed so far, including civilians, three of whom are children, according to Ukraine’s health minister. This is even as Russia’s military claimed it had taken control of the southeastern city of Melitopol.
-Advertisement-
More than 150,000 Ukrainians have fled the country since the beginning of Moscow’s assault, the UN said .Western countries have announced sweeping sanctions on Moscow, including measures targeting President Vladimir Putin himself.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that Ukraine’s forces had repulsed Russia’s assault and vowed to keep up the struggle as Russian troops closed in on Ukraine’s capital Saturday after a night of explosions and street fighting sent Kyiv residents seeking shelter or fleeing the city.
“The real fighting for Kyiv is ongoing,” Zelensky said in a video message, accusing Russia of hitting infrastructure and civilian targets. “We will win,” he said.
Zelensky urged Russians to pressure Russian leader Vladimir Putin to stop the invasion. He accused Moscow of seeking to overthrow him and establish a puppet state in Ukraine.
Meanwhile The United States will provide an additional $350m worth of military aid to Ukraine, the country’s secretary of state has announced, following approval of the package from President Joe Biden.
“This package will include further lethal defensive assistance to help Ukraine address the armored, airborne, and other threats it is now facing,” Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Washington had already drawn from US weapons stocks to supply Ukraine in the final months of 2021 and then again in December. In total, over the past year the US has committed more than $1bn in security assistance to Kyiv, Blinken said.
Ukraine has been asking for Javelin anti-tank weapons and Stinger missiles to shoot down aircraft.
Germany is in favour of imposing “targeted and functional” restrictions on Russia from the SWIFT global payments system, its foreign and economy ministers have said.
“We are urgently working on how to limit the collateral damage of decoupling from SWIFT in such a way that it affects the right people. What we need is a targeted and functional restriction of SWIFT,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a joint statement.
Greece said six of its nationals had been killed and six others wounded by Russian bombing near the key southeastern port city of Mariupol.
“The death of our nationals creates grief and anger for this unacceptable Russian attack against civilians,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a statement.
…We Are Working With FG To Rescue Sokoto Students – Tambuwal
Twenty-two students of Sokoto origin in Ukraine will soon be evacuated, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has said,
The governor stated this in a Zoom meeting he set up between the trapped students and their parents at Government House, Sokoto yesterday pledged not to rest until all the students leave Ukraine.
Prior to the meeting which lasted over an hour, the state security council meeting was convened yesterday by the governor with the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar in attendance.
Tambuwal said, “During today’s zoom meeting, the state government was in touch with the Nigerian embassy in Ukraine and the federal government.
“The state Ministry of Finance has been directed to send money to the stranded students, who said they needed about $200-$300 to cater for their immediate needs.
“Equally, Nigerian officials, including uniformed attaches, have been stationed at the border of Romania to receive the students arriving from Ukraine. These officials, upon receiving the students, would profile them, provide them accommodation and feeding for 24 hours and subsequently arrange further transits for them.
“The state government shall continue to do what we have to do. Personally, I won’t abandon our students and their parents at this time or anytime in the future. God willing, they will be safe and come back to us safely.”
The governor shared a communication from the incumbent chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, that useful information on how students should organise themselves would be sent to a platform he has created and monitors constantly.
In their contributions during the zoom meeting, some of the students asked the state government to quickly evacuate them as the chances of their leaving the country would soon reduce if the situation gets worse.
Aisha Kabir said; “The situation in Kharkiv, is a bit bad. We are still hearing some shootings. Although, there are arrangements to drive us by bus towards Romania, the drivers are afraid they might be attacked. We feel that the train station is a bit safer and the railway a better way to move out.”
Another student, Shuaibu Muhammad, said, “We are witnessing some challenges in Krakow, Poland, where the state scholarship board has been in touch with us since the beginning of the crisis. But, the camps there are no longer safe. We lack food and the sanitary conditions is deteriorating.
“Although, some of us have been advised to move to safe places at Krakow, the journey from Lviv-Krakow is about 12 hours and many of us do not have anyone to communicate with upon arrival.”
Other challenges the students said they were facing include cold weather, lack of adequate clothing, blankets and the throng of Nigerians scrambling to leave as well.
Fatima Zarah Ibrahim who said she heard that there would be no movement of foreigners out of Lviv as from today noted; “Kharkhiv is a danger zone and that it is not safe to depart Lviv by bus.”
However, a cheering news came from Huzaifa Habib, studying in Zaporizhia, who told the meeting that he and his colleagues, Nigerians, Moroccans, Indians and Ukrainians were already being evacuated via a train to Poland.
In their various interventions during the Zoom session, parents of some of the students lauded both the federal government and the Sokoto State governments for their efforts to bring back their wards and children.
Ambassador Kabir, a retired diplomat who gave kudos to the government informed the meeting that counselor officers and immigration attachees were in Romania waiting for the students.
“Any of them that arrives Krakow will be profiled, fed and accommodated for 24 hours. My plea is that Sokoto State should work in synergy with the federal government on this issue.”
Aliyu Dalhatu Zuru, another parent said, “Parents are happy with the way things went today. It is a pleasant news that the students are moving out. Our initial fear has evaporated.”
We do everything possible to supply quality news and information to all our valuable readers day in, day out and we are committed to keep doing this.
Your kind donation will help our continuous research efforts.
-Advertisement-
-Want to get the news as it breaks?-
