By Chesa Chesa
President Muhammad’s Buhari has approved the release of $8.5 million for immediate evacuation of no fewer than 5,000 Nigerians fleeing the Russia/ Ukraine war to neighbouring Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, who briefed the press on the development in Abuja on Wednesday, alongside the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, said the approval came after a joint memo presented by the two ministries of were tabled before the week’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Dada disclosed that Air Peace and Max Air airlines have been contracted to provide three aircraft and run as many flights as possible to facilitate the evacuation.
Dada said those to be evacuated include 940 Nigerians from Romania, 150 from Slovakia and 350 from Poland who have registered for evacuation.
Dada said that “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 gamut of activities that are involved.”
Asked 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 said that “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 missions in Ukraine has had to be evacuated. So if for any reason any Nigerian is left behind, we are very very prayerful, we are very hopeful that no harm shall come to them once they are in some shelters or whatever place they are hiding.
“Don’t forget we had also summoned both the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors to our Ministry, and we did emphasise 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.”
