Nigerian Students In Ukraine Eyes Witness Accounts

Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukraine conflict last week, thousands of Nigerian students in the country have been scrambling to leave for safty and it’s a bitter story to tell for most of them.

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“It is scary, very scary. I’m very worried. People are running for their lives. We are hiding in groups so we can keep an eye on each other,” Lawal told Al Jazeera over the phone.

As revealed by the US military, the Russian army now has at least 50 percent of its expected 150,000-strong invasion forces in Ukraine territory.

According to The United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been displaced within the country since the conflict started last week.

You might also like to read – Why A No-Fly Zone Is Not An Option In The Russian – Ukraine Conflict

Although we can not ascertain the exact figure of Africans who are currently trapped in Ukraine, the number is significant because many African students come to study in the former soviet country.

Below are some of their remarks as reported by Aljazeera:

“There’s no escape. Trains have stopped working. Most supermarkets are closed and those that are opened are running very low on food stocks. ATMs are not working and everyone is desperately looking for money,” Lawal said, as sirens went off in the background.

“At my university, there are about 100 Nigerian students. I’m sheltering with some of them,” Lawal added.

“I live in Kyiv. I have been living here since March last year,” Somto Orah, a student at State University of Telecommunications in Kyiv, told Al Jazeera.

“We have received no support from any government authorities. The school only gave us bomb shelter to hide when the air raid siren is on. The sirens came on and off for about five times yesterday before I left,” Orah, a Nigerian national, added.

Check out also this article – The Russian-Ukraine Conflict – Looking At African Food and Economy

“There is little food. I couldn’t access cash for two days now. Every ATM on the road has no cash.”

“I drove from Kyiv. We are trying to survive. We don’t want to die in a foreign country,” George said.

“They are not officials, police or military. They are normal citizens who stopped us Africans from driving to the border. They let Ukrainians pass through but not us,” George said.

“I’m now walking to the border. I have no other option. I don’t know how much further the border is. They even took our money. It is like they are not human beings,” George said, adding that he could no longer talk on the phone because his hands were freezing in the sub-zero temperature.

“I will be heading to Nigeria from Poland if I’m able to cross. But if I see a school offer around Schengen, I will take it up because I don’t want my school life to be disrupted,” he said as he joined the queue at the border gate.

Here is another article you might like – The Russia-Ukraine Conflict – First Effect On Africans

From the Aljazeera article – The Nigerian students caught in the Russia-Ukraine war

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