Ukraine War: Poland Releases 13 Detained Nigerians, Five Seeking Asylum

No fewer than 13 Nigerians detained in various camps in Poland have been released.

It was learnt that 19 Nigerians who escaped the Ukraine-Russia war were detained in various camps in Poland, a situation the Federal Government frowned at, asking the Polish authorities to rather send them to Nigeria instead of holding them in detention camps.

Five of the remaining Nigerians were seeking asylum in Poland while one claimed that he is a Cameroonian by virtue of the nationality of his mother.

A statement by Mr Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Head, Media and Public Relations Unit, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM, stated that they were released with the intervention of the Nigeria Ambassador to Poland, His Excellency, Major General Christian Ugwu ( Rtd ).

According to Ugwu, among the six remaining in detention camps, one of them claimed that he is a Cameroonian because his 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 can not 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 as undocumented immigrants in Poland.

President Muhammad Buhari in March immediately approved the evacuation of Nigerians mostly students trapped in the Russian- Ukrainian crisis back home.

The directive was swiftly carried out by the inter-ministerial agencies coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with over 1600 Nigerians brought back home.

However, some of the 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 successful intervention of the Nigerian mission in Poland and reiterated the call for Nigerians to obey the laws of the countries they reside.