President Muhammadu Buhari has approved $8.5 million (N3.5billion) for the immediate evacuation of at least 5,000 Nigerians from Ukraine who are stranded as a result of the ongoing war between the country and Russia.
Zubairu Dada, minister of state for foreign affairs, said the approval was issued on Wednesday at the federal executive council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
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He stated that a joint memo on the money meant for the evacuation of Nigerians now in Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland were presented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as that of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development and approved by FEC.
Dada added that three aircraft, two from Air Peace and one from Max Air airlines, would run as many shifts as possible to facilitate the evacuation of those who were currently on the ground.
He also said those to be evacuated include 940 from Romania, 150 from Slovakia and 350 from Poland who have registered for evacuation.
Dada expressed;
The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs wrote a memo to the president seeking for funding to enable us conduct this exercise. The memo was in the tune of $8.5 million which Mr. President has graciously approved. That provision entails arrangement to evacuate not less than 5,000 Nigerians.
Whatever happens, you can be rest assured we are going to run any number of shifts that it will involve. Don’t forget it will also involve taking care of those Nigerians that may decide not to come back.
It also includes some assistance for the feeding that may have been done by the missions under whatever arrangements. Even the missions themselves are also in dire situations. So, it’s a whole gambit of activities that are involved.
When if the amount will be released immediately for the exercise, the Minister said “that is why the evacuation flights will begin today (Wednesday).”
On students trapped in Ukrainian cities now in the hands of Russians, Dada expressed;
We want to believe the Russian armed forces will obey the rules of engagement. They know the rules about civilians that are caught up in situations such as this. We want to assume they will respect international laws and ensure that no harm comes to them.
Don’t forget that even our mission in Ukraine has had to be evacuated. So, if for any reason any Nigerian is left behind, we are very prayerful, we are very hopeful that no harm shall come to them once of course they are in some shelters or whatever place they are hiding.
He stressed;
Don’t forget we had also summoned both the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors to our ministry, and we did emphasis the need for their troops to ensure that they do not do anything that will harm the lives of innocent citizens.
We have seen video clips making the rounds about the alleged treatment that had been meted out to black people who were on queues and in buses and all that.
All these we have brought to the attention of the ambassadors and we have expressed our displeasure at this development and demanded that they do something about this.
Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, many residents, including Nigerians, have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries.
Nigerian government had said its diplomatic mission received Nigerians in Hungary, Poland and Romania.
