Ukraine vs Russia war: FG reacts to detention of Nigerians, other African students in Poland

The Federal Government of Nigeria has condemned the Polish Authority for detaining Nigerians and other African students who fled war-torn Ukraine amid Russian invasion, due to their black skin.

The Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who said this in Abuja, expressed displeasure over the development, saying it was wrong and traumatic.

Dabiri-Erewa was speaking at the commencement of a two-day Psychosocial Trauma Clinic for Ukraine returnees on Thursday.

She said that some Nigerian students who fled war-torn Ukraine to neighbouring countries of Poland and Hungary were now in detention in Poland, a development she said was unacceptable by the Federal Government.

She lauded the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, for making it possible for the stranded students to return home.

“Imagine we are not able to bring them back home, look at what is happening in Poland?

“Some Africans and Nigerians decided not to return home, now Polish authority is now going around and capturing blacks and putting them in detention camps.

“So, those Nigerians who refused to return are at risk, some are in detention centres in Poland and they are in a traumatic condition.

“However, inasmuch as Nigeria has given them the opportunity to come back home and they refused, it does not mean the Polish authority will grab them and put them in detention centres.

“The Federal Government is now calling on the Poland authority to release the blacks in their custody.

“It is not right for them to detain the blacks because they decided to take cover in their country (Poland).

“They are not putting whites in those detention centres, so send them back to their countries instead of capturing them in detention centres which is the height of racism in a war situation,” Dabiri-Erewa said as quoted by NAN.