From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government has secured the release of 13 out of 19 Nigerians detained in various camps in Poland.
In a statement by the Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abdur-Rahman Balogun, their release was done after the intervention of the Nigeria Ambassador to Poland, Major General Christian Ugwu (retd).
According to Ugwu, among the six remaining in detention camps, one of them claimed that he is a Cameroonian because his mother is from Cameroon.
‘Unfortunately, the remaining five, all applied for international protection (asylum) in Poland including Igwe Ikechukwu Christian, who had been interviewed by some foreign media.
‘They cannot be released until the Government of Poland takes a decision on their application or they decide to withdraw the application,’ the envoy added.
He assured Nigerians that the Mission will continue to do its best to ensure that the interest of Nigerians are well taken care of, despite the fact that they had been adequately briefed on the likely consequences of remaining undocumented immigrants in Poland.
It would be recalled that President Muhammad Buhari had in March immediately approved the evacuation of Nigerians mostly students trapped in the Russian- Ukrainian crisis back home.
The directive was swiftly carried out by the interministerial agencies coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with over 1,600 Nigerians brought back home.
However, some of the Nigerians chose to remain behind and were clamped into detention centres in Poland.
Speaking on the development, Chairman/CEO, NIDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa commended the successful intervention of the Nigerian mission in Poland and reiterated the call for Nigerians to obey the laws of the countries in which they reside.