Following the crisis rocking Ukraine, a total of 13 out of 19 Nigerians detained in various camps in Poland have been released.
They were released after the Nigeria Ambassador to Poland, Major General Christian Ugwu (rtd) intervened.
Ugwu, in a statement signed by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit NiDCOM, Abuja, explained that among the six remaining in detention camps, one of them claimed that he is a Cameroonian because the mother is from Cameroon.
Unfortunately, the remaining five, all applied for international protection (asylum) in Poland including Igwe Ikechukwu Christian, who had been interviewed by some foreign media.
They cannot be released until the Government of Poland takes a decision on their application or they decide to withdraw the application”, the envoy added.
He assured Nigerians that the Mission will continue to do its best to ensure that the interest of Nigerians are well taken care of, despite the fact that they had been adequately briefed on the likely consequences of remaining undocumented immigrants in Poland.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had in March approved the evacuation of Nigerians mostly students trapped in the Russia-Ukraine crisis back home.
The directive was swiftly carried out by the interministerial agencies coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with over 1600 Nigerians brought back home.
However, some Nigerians chose to remain behind and were clamped into detention centres in Poland.
Speaking on the development, Hon. (Dr) Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) commended the intervention of the Nigerian mission in Poland, reiterating her call on Nigerians to always obey the laws of the countries they reside in at any given time.
