The Nigerian government has chartered three jets from local carriers Max Air and Airpeace in an effort to bring back home their citizens stranded in Poland, Hungary and Romania, according to Nigeria’s foreign ministry.
"The first batch of evacuees are expected to arrive in Nigeria on Thursday, 3 March" Gabriel Aduda, permanent secretary for the ministry, said in the statement.
Nigerians, many who are students in Ukraine, fled the country at the beginning of the Russian invasion, but some reports claimed they had suffered major hardships and racism in just trying to escape the country like everyone else.
Some 1,000 Nigerians are scheduled for the airlift.
"We assure Nigerians that we are working round the clock to see that our citizens are bought back home safely," added Aduda.
-
African students in Ukraine face discrimination as they try to flee fighting
-
Mass exodus from Ukraine reported as Russian troops advance on Kyiv
There are some 5,600 Nigerian students in Ukraine, said the ministry.
Ukraine's ambassador to South Africa said that there are some 16,000 African students in Ukraine, but many have no embassy in the eastern European country, which has made their repatriation even harder.
Difficulties in getting out
The Ghanaian government brought back 17 out of 500 students stranded in neighboring countries on Tuesday, while other African governments are scrambling to get their citizens out safely.
The Africa Union on Monday condemned reports Africans had been mistreated and prevented from crossing the Ukraine border, saying that this would be “shockingly racist.”
Both Polish and Ukrainian border officials said that they had treated everyone the same, but a number of tense unverified videos were posted on social media showing how black people trying to cross over were not being allowed.
Some 680,000 people have left Ukraine, while an estimated one million people are internally displaced within the country.
