Russian President, Vladimir Putin, Thursday announced a special military operation in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, in a move he said was aimed at protecting civilians and countering the encroaching threat of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
In a televised address, Mr. Putin said the decision was made following appeals for help from leaders of two Russian-controlled breakaway regions that he recognised as independent this week. The push beyond territories already controlled by Russian proxies marked a dramatic escalation in a crisis that has pitted Moscow against the West, following weeks of failed diplomacy.
It brings to an abrupt end efforts by the U.S. and its NATO allies to broker a diplomatic solution between Russia and Ukraine, and confronts Mr. Putin with the prospect of punishing economic sanctions from the U.S. and Europe that could cripple his economy.
The Kremlin leader, who has long questioned the legitimacy of Ukraine’s autonomy, ordered his troops into the eastern Donbas region on Monday after recognizing two breakaway statelets there as independent—a move President Biden called the beginning of an invasion of Ukraine.
Before matters got to this extent, countries around the world made efforts to evacuate their citizens. Over two weeks ago, the United States, Britain, Germany, France and other nations asked their nationals to leave the troubled country. They also provided an exit means.
“American citizens should leave. … Leave now,” Joe Biden had said. “We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. This is a very different situation, and things could go crazy quickly.”
The US president also announced emergency military plans to airlift Americans who had fled Ukraine into Poland, to avoid the kind of evacuation fiasco that occurred in Kabul last summer. Britain, meanwhile, urged citizens in “Ukraine to leave now via commercial means while they remain available”.
Few other countries announced emergency plans. With a Russian invasion of Ukraine underway and some 8,000 Israelis believed to still be in the country, the country’s Foreign Ministry urged nationals to exit the Eastern European nation with renewed urgency, and mobilized to assist all those wishing to leave.
Ukraine’s airspace has been completely closed off for civilian air traffic, and the only option to leave is through land borders to the west. And some nations are taking advantage.
India says it is looking for alternative routes to evacuate its citizens. This was after an Air India flight going to Ukraine turned back for Delhi. Romania reiterated that its citizens should leave while China urged them to stay home.
Sluggishly, the Nigerian Government, through the Embassy in Kyiv issued a travel advisory on the same day its citizens who are among 44 million men, women and children in Ukraine came under a full-scale war of aggression, waged without a shred of justification, for the absurd and even mystical reasons that Putin described. The country all but left its people to their fate.
Thousands of Nigerians live in Ukraine, many of whom are students in various higher institutions in the country. Over 4,000 Nigerian students are studying in the Eastern European country, according to official records.
According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science in 2020, of the 76,548 international students in Ukraine, 4,227 are Nigerians, the fifth-highest international student population. However, there is no official record of the total number of Nigerians in the country.
“The embassy urges Nigerian nationals resident in Ukraine to remain calm but be very vigilant and be responsible for their personal security and safety,” the Nigerian Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, said in a statement shared on Twitter by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).
“In case of students seeking such temporary relocation, they are enjoined to seek proper clearance and guarantee from their respective institutions, authorities/agents on the way forward in respect to their studies during this period and/or thereafter,” the embassy told students.
“For those who still consider it appropriate to remain in the country, be assured that the embassy remains open for its consular duties and responsibilities at all times. it will always avail you of updates when necessary,” it said.
It also advised Nigerians who do not feel safe in their current locations to make private arrangements to move to places they consider safer.
“The embassy wishes to add that should any of Nigerian nationals consider the situation as emotionally disturbing, such nationals may wish to temporarily relocate to anywhere considered safe by private arrangements they should, however, ensure that they do all the needful to validate all their resident documents for ease of return to the country when desired.”
Twice in the statement, the Nigerian government abandoned its duties for the citizens. It urged them to be responsible for their personal security and private travel arrangements. No mention of evacuation.
Whether it happens or not, the move by the House of Representatives offers hope. The lower house called for the immediate evacuation of Nigerians in Ukraine.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, agreed with a lawmaker, Leke Abejide, to interact with the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema to evacuate Nigerians from Ukraine by Monday, February 28. The House Committee on Foreign Affairs has been mandated to liaise with the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
