Russian Invasion: Nigerian Students In Ukraine Cry For Help

Amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Nigerian students in Ukraine have expressed their feelings of confusion and abandonment as regards their safety in the invaded country.

Major cities in Ukraine were in the early hours of Thursday attacked by Russian forces, what the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin regarded as a “special military operation”, claiming to be directed at military installations in Ukraine.

As reported by Premium Times, on Wednesday, one of the over 4,000 students in Ukraine, Anjola Phillips, a student at Lviv National Medical University before the attack on Thursday stated her concern about what to do if war ensues although the Nigerian government had been responsive. 

“We do not know what is happening, we see other nations organising flights for their people.

"I think it will be good to know if we have a place of convergence, we have no idea and people are asking if they should start returning home.

“The embassy is responsive anytime we reach out to them but it is the same response every time, which leaves me wondering if there are no plans for the worst-case scenario,” Phillips said

The Lviv student, identified to be the President of the Nigerian students union in Lviv, indicated his worry about the safety of his fellow Nigerian students.

“No one knows what is our fate as Nigerian students here. We just get things online and we try to feel the pulse of the school administration and the locals.

"Lviv is pretty safe, everybody is going about their business…”

“Some days ago, the school sent out information that students could go back to their houses with the exception of students who had professional examinations.

"We are still trying to get further clarification from the school on why this group is exempted.

“The issue is we do not have any direction from the Nigerian embassy, I reached out to them and was told to keep checking the website for information.

"They said they will update us with more information if they receive any. The last update on their website was on January 26, asking us to call the embassy in case of emergency,” he reiterated.

The Nigerian embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine was reported to have released a statement on Twitter on Thursday encouraging Nigerians to protect themselves.

“The embassy urges Nigerian nationals resident in Ukraine to remain calm but be very vigilant and be responsible for their personal security and safety,” Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) tweeted.