FG to begin airlifting of Nigerians trapped in Ukraine Wednesday

• 479 Nigerians secure exit routes

Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, has said the Federal Government will on Wednesday start airlifting of Nigerians trapped at the Ukrainian borders with Budapest, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania.

Onyeama disclosed this while speaking on Channels TV, Politics Today, monitored in Lagos.

He said the government was discussing with Air Peace and Max Air airlines in Abuja, adding that it is making moves to find out from those countries how many Nigerians are currently there.

He said, “As of today, we were hoping we will be able to get the flights out, but we needed to be sure of the numbers to know the size of planes to deploy. So we made Romania the hub.”

The minister said he was in touch with the Ambassador in Ukraine and his staff and had directed them to set up a hotline for Nigerians in Ukraine, maintain contact with them, and advise them on what they should be doing and how they should stay safe.

Onyeama said, “We are also in contact with the ambassadors and diplomatic missions around Ukraine. Once the people started moving to the borders before it was shut; we have started evacuating Nigerian citizens. The next phase was to get them to the borders as safely as possible and to evacuate them to the capitals to begin an airlift.”

He added that it got the embassy to send staff to the border points in Hungary, Poland and Romania, Slovakia to assist Nigerians to arrange shelter and food for them.

Onyeama stated, “Though it’s a bit chaotic because of the panic. There has been some distressing news about discrimination about Nigerians being turned back at the border, initially, by the guards. So I called the minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine. I was actually surprised to get him considering the situation that they are in, and we communicated at length and he said the border guards were to allow foreigners to go through unimpeded, but the only restrictions were Ukrainian males between the ages of 18 and 60. And the borders guards have been directed. So we arranged with the embassy officials to start ferrying Nigerians to the capitals.”

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He said there were over 1,000 Nigerians who had crossed the borders, 250 in Poland, Budapest about 200, and Slovakia rising rapidly to around 200 mark.

The minister said, “There are some Nigerians on a place called Summi, closer to the Russian border. I have been in touch with the ambassador and given him some numbers to keep in touch with them, about 150 of them now looking to cross to Russia, we are hoping they will give them a permit to cross and we are hoping that by Wednesday, we will start deploying planes to airlifting and bringing back Nigerians.”

Asked if it was safe to fly in and out of Russia, Onyeama said it was not safe to fly, but to go by road, adding that there is also inherent risk.

“Though there is an element of risk there but the Russian Ambassador assured me that they were targeting military installations and not civilian abode,” Onyeama said.

Meanwhile, about 479 Nigerians are already across the Ukrainian border in Hungary and Poland with the rest as at press time being assisted to get to freedom.

A signed statement yesterday by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, explained, “In the last 24 hours, officials of the Nigerian Embassy have received 130 Nigerians safely at Bucharest, Romania, where they have been provided accommodation and will be documented, while we finalise arrangements to bring them back home.

“Also, officials at Budapest, Hungary have received and accommodated 74 Nigerians safely, where they are being documented for subsequent travel arrangements back to Nigeria.

“We are expecting another batch of about 200 into the city of Budapest, tomorrow (Monday)

“In Warsaw, Poland we have received 52 Nigerians and 23 are being processed at the Polish Government Reception Point at Hala Kijowska, Milny 90, 37-552 Milny, which is near the border of Korczowa-Krakowiec. The camp is well organised with beds and beddings, food, heating, clothing and medicals for evacuees.”

Aduda, in the statement, assured “Nigerians that all hands are on deck and arrangements are being put in place to effectively evacuate our citizens, in safety and dignity.”