I walked for 13 hours to get to Romanian border——Amara, medical student

•I stayed underground for 24 hours, thought I’d never see my parents again—Another returnee

•Ukrainian army treated us badly

•We went through a lot of stress

By Luminous Jannamike, Victoria Ojeme & Ezra Ukanwa, Abuja

A total of 596 Ukraine based Nigerians who were evacuated by the Federal Government following invasion of Ukraine by Russia arrived Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja yesterday with tales of woes. 

The first batch of 415 evacuees from Romania arrived at 7: 10 am by Max Air while the second batch came in the evening from Poland and were received by officials of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Faruk, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency and the Nigeria in Diaspora Commission, among others. Some of the evacuees recalled the hardship they went through and how the Ukrainian army treated them badly. 

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Ukrainian army kept us inside the cold—Amara, medical student

Recalling her experience, 19-year-old second year student of International European University, Kyiv, Amara Nwosu Precious Chimerema said,  “I am a second year student, reading medicine in Kyiv. It started on Thursday night when I heard my friend running towards my hostel calling my name and asking me if I was not hearing the sound of bombs. 

Immediately many of us quickly got up, dressed and we all headed downstairs as we heard the sound of bombs like three times before it stopped. When I noticed that it had stopped, I wanted to go upstairs to my room when our security guards said I shouldn’t go back again. At that time, all the students came out with many of their belongings and the next morning at about 5:30 am we all started walking towards the border, a walk that took us thirteen hours to get to the border of Romania.

“When we finally got to the border where the train station was, the Ukrainian army started separating the blacks from the whites. We noticed that when the first train arrived,  the Ukrainian Army pushed the blacks aside and allowed only the white mothers and children to go in. 

The second train came, they did the same thing, even with the third train. I almost got trampled upon. It was on the fourth day that I was able to join the fourth train. What annoyed me most was the manner at which the Ukrainian Army treated us. The pushed us outside, kept us inside the cold and the army took over the shelter and sat inside, leaving us without any care. I didn’t really care about the separation but the manner at which it was being handled made everything wrong. At least, they would have picked  three whites, one black or seven whites, three blacks, that would have been better.

“So, finally we got to Romania, ooooh my God, do you know that even at the border, Romanians were the ones feeding us, the Ukrainian Army cared less about us. The Romanians took us to a camp that looked like a refugee camp, every thing was provided for us even down to toothpicks.

“I will also appreciate the Federal Government for really taking good care of us as well because when they received us finally at Romania, they took very good care of us, kept us in a hotel and we became more comfortable”. When asked if she would go back after the war, she said yes. 

I hid underground for over 24 hours —Ajayi

Among the returnees from Poland, 21-year-old Ajayi Ireoluwa Adeyemi said he hid underground for over 24 hours in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Adeyemi, in a brief interaction with journalists, said Ukraine was like a hell for him. The youth said that at some point, he was afraid he would never see his parents again. 

He said, “I’m happy being home. It wasn’t easy for us at all. We experienced racism and had so many violent encounters with people, but one thing I must admit is that Nigeria came through for us. We are very proud the Federal Government exceeded our expectations. However, at some point I was very afraid I may not see my parents again. I had to run underground in Kharkiv, Ukraine for over 24 hours. All through the period I was underground, I kept hearing gunshots. I thought all hope was lost.”

On the sudden interruption of his studies in Ukraine, he said: “Once there’s life, there’s hope. I believe one day, I will go back to school. It is actually something that is very painful and nobody wants to experience that reality. I am more concerned about those that are injured in Ukraine.”

Another is Adejare Fortune, who arrived Ukraine to study for a bachelors degree in Medicine and Surgery a few weeks before the country’s face-off with Russia began. 

We had very bad experience —Evacuees lament

Ms Eniola Badejo, a student from Ukraine said, “we went through a lot of stress, many of us travelled all the way and we have barely slept. We want them to give us more information because we were not given enough information. I am just happy to be going back to my family, I feel happy and grateful that I am going back to my parents,” Badejo said.

Mr Joseph Chikwado, another student who left Ukraine, said what was  most important to him was his successful crossing from Ukraine into Poland amidst all the challenges as he looked forward to returning to Nigeria. “It was a very bad experience trying to get across the borders from Ukraine into Poland because of the weather. It was very bad and very cold, very long distance, no vehicle to convey us to the borders, we got there pretty late, we had to find a way to warm ourselves. We are happy we are safe now and getting back to our country, I feel relieved,” Chikwado said.

Ms Kella Wengwu, a student of Dnipro Medical Institute, Ukraine, said she was lucky to be on the flight, explaining that the cancelled flight of March 3, gave her the opportunity to make the trip.

Wengu explained that she would have missed the flight as she did not register with the Nigerian Embassy in Poland upon arrival.

“Leaving Ukraine was very tough. I had left my city over two weeks to the capital because there were warnings on the invasion from Russia on social media. Coming here, I do not know how I got here, I was going to miss this flight because I did not go to the Embassy to write my name, I got here and was told the plane was filled up, I waited to see if any opportunity arises. It is mixed feelings for me, I am not quite happy I am leaving school, Ukraine is my home now because since I arrived it has been great.

“But at the same time, I am safe, I a going home to my loved ones, thank you for the opportunity.”

Nigeria’s Ambassador to Poland, Christian Ugwu, appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for his swift intervention and release of funds to get all stranded Nigerians in Ukraine back home.

FG gives Ukraine returnees $100

The Federal Government had earlier scheduled the arrival of the first batch of evacuees for Thursday but the flight was rescheduled. Max Air flight VM602 from Bucharest landed in Abuja at about 7.10 with a next flight from Hungary being expected.

The federal government on Wednesday, approved $8.5 million for the immediate evacuation of 5,000 Nigerians stranded as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, said there were about 8,000 Nigerians in Ukraine, 5,000 of whom were students.

Also, Onyeama  while briefing the House of Representatives on the evacuation efforts, said, “we made Romania the hub and over a thousand Nigerians have crossed there. Poland has about 250, Budapest in Hungary has a similar number, Slovakia is rising rapidly. It is also around 200. There are some Nigerians in a place called Sumy close to the Russian border”. 

Meanwhile, the Federal Government on Friday gave all returnees from Ukraine $100 (about N48,000) to ameliorate their sufferings. This was contained in a statement by Mr Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the Head of Media and Public Relations, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abuja.