The Ukrainian Government has approved the evacuation of Nigerian students stranded in Sumy following the invasion of Russia into the country.
Sumy is a city in north-eastern Ukraine and the capital of Sumy Oblast.
Sumy lies about 48km (30 miles) from the border with Russia – it was one of the first cities to be attacked by Russian forces after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
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Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affair, Geoffrey Onyeama, announced the approval on Sunday night on his Twitter handle.
He noted that the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, approved evacuation beginning from Monday (tomorrow).
“Deep gratitude to @DmytroKuleba, Foreign Minister of Ukraine for approval given, as promised, to establish humanitarian corridor and authorize evacuation of Nigerian students from Sumy starting tomorrow.
“The big challenge is procuring buses. We are doing everything to make it happen. Great commitment by Nigerian Ambassador to Ukraine, Shina Alege,” he tweeted.
The minister had Saturday when he briefed the President, Nigerian Students Union of Sumy State University, Fehintola Moses Damilola, assured the students that the Federal Government was working to ensure their safe evacuation.
“Telephoned with the President of the Nigerian Students Union of Sumy State University, Fehintola Moses Damilola to brief him on the evacuation plan of the Ukrainian Government for the Students in Sumy and to reassure him and his compatriots that the Nigerian Government is doing everything possible for their safe and speedy evacuation,” Onyeama tweeted yesterday.
Before the approval, Onyeama had earlier announced that he had spoken with Kuleba to reach an agreement on the evacuation modalities for the Nigerian students in the varsity.
Meanwhile, the fourth batch of 306 Nigerians fleeing from the war in Ukraine arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja from Budapest, Hungary.
The evacuees arrived via Air Peace Airline at 12:35 a.m on Sunday.
769 Nigerians evacuated so far
The stranded Nigerians were successfully evacuated following the intervention of the federal government with the cooperation of governments of countries neighbouring Ukraine.
So far, Federal Government has evacuated 769 Nigerians from Ukraine on a plane owned by Max Air and Air Peace, one of the airlines billed to airlift Nigerians returning from Ukraine. They were airlifted from Hungary where they had fled following the war in Ukraine.
The federal government on Wednesday approved $8.5 million for the evacuation of 5,000 stranded Nigerians.
According to a NAN report, the federal government gave $100 to each of the evacuees to help them get to their relatives when they get to Nigeria.
