The Ukrainian Ambassador to Nigeria, Kirdoda Valerii, has stated that Nigerians cannot be evacuated from the nation at this time because Ukraine’s airspace remains closed as a result of the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Russia started a military offensive on Ukraine on February 23, forcing many people to evacuate their homes.
Following the incident, the Nigerian government declared that a special arrangement is being prepared to evacuate over 5000 Nigerian students and other Nigerians wishing to be evacuated from Ukraine owing to the conflict.
The arrangement was said to be made with Air Peace in the hopes to evacuate the students by air.
On Thursday, February 25, after meeting with Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffery Onyeama, the Ukrainian envoy expressed appreciation to the Nigerian government and people for their help during these trying times but emphasized that it is currently unsafe to evacuate anyone.
He said, “Right now, we are in a very difficult situation, but we are fighting against the aggression and we believe that we will all win. Ukrainian Government does not differentiate between people on the basis of their nationality and that is the best effort to protect everybody.
“Currently, the evacuation of Nigerian students is not possible because it is not safe to fly in the sky of Ukraine. As soon as it is safe to fly on the sky of Ukraine, we will join the Embassy of Nigeria in Ukraine, and jointly with the Nigerian Government, we will arrange for the evacuation of Nigerian Students.”
