Five of 19 detained Nigerians apply for asylum in Poland

Poland has released 13 out of 19 Nigerians who fled the Ukrainian war and were detained in various camps. Five of the detainees were said to have applied for asylum in Poland.

The Nigerians were reportedly released following the intervention of the Nigerian Ambassador to Poland, Maj Gen Christian Ugwu (retd.).

A statement on Wednesday by the spokesman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abdul-Rahman Balogun, quoted Ugwu as saying that one of the six in detention claimed he is a Cameroonian because the 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 can not 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 that the Mission would continue to do its best to ensure that the interest of Nigerians is well taken care of, despite the fact that they had been adequately briefed on the likely consequences of remaining as undocumented immigrants in Poland.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in March approved the evacuation of Nigerians mostly students trapped in the Russian- Ukrainian crisis.

The directive was carried out by the interministerial agencies coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with over 1,600 Nigerians brought back home.

However, some Nigerians chose to remain behind and were clamped into detention centres in Poland.

Speaking on the development, the NIDCOM Chairman, Dr 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 they reside in.