By our reporter| The federal government on Thursday has warned Nigerians not to travel to Northern Cyprus.
The chairman of the Nigeria Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who gave the advice while speaking with reporters in Abuja, said there is little the federal government can do to diplomatically resolve issues in the territory because Northern Cyprus is not recognised by the international community except Turkey.
The warning comes amid reports many Nigerian are being killed in Northern Cyprus.
“Think twice before going to Northern Cyprus. We can’t do much for Nigerians there. Our students are being killed daily,” she said.
“Some people will tell you that their destinies are abroad but if you want to go, go legally.”
Speaking on the evacuation of Nigerians from Libya, Dabiri-Erewa said over 10,000 citizens have been evacuated so far.
She also said about 2,000 Nigerian students stranded in Ukraine at the start of the conflict have returned home safely.
The NiDCOM boss further stated that students psychologically affected by the conflict have gone through proper counselling before continuing their education either online or on-site by enrolling into private universities in the country to continue their programmes.
“We do the work but we don’t get any form of extra money. There is a department in foreign affairs strictly for Ukraine but we did our own bit, there is a portal that if you want to continue your education…,” she added.
“Again it is a matter of choice, go to the portal and enroll and I think as at the last time I spoke to the director in charge, he said 403 had actually enrolled but a lot of them are actually trying the private universities.
“Some universities have offered scholarships. It’s ongoing but the key thing is some institutions, particularly in the medical world noted that when they put them through some examinations, they actually didn’t pass the level they felt they should, so there were some issues.”
Dabiri-Erewa also urged Nigerians in Diaspora not to be afraid to invest in the country because of insecurity.
While admitting that the country’s insecurity challenge is a source of concern, she said it is only temporary because of stiff measures currently employed by the Federal Government to tackle the situation.
She said the commission recorded over $20 billion in diaspora remittances for 2021.
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