*As ATPEN petitions UN over repression

By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

ABUJA—Succour has come the way of 80 Nigerian students, deported by the Turkish government in the aftermath of the last coup that rattled the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The affected students, according to the Vice Chancellor of the Nile University based in Abuja, have been accepted and offered admissions to continue with their respective courses of studies with scholarship by the institution.

Vice Chancellor of Nile University Nigeria, Professor Huseyin Sert, confirmed to Vanguard that 50 of the deported Nigerian students were offered full scholarships while the rest were given partial scholarships to complete their studies.

Huseyin said despite the deportation of the students, the Nile University would do everything possible to ensure the safety and well-being of the Nigerian students in line with its mission of adding value to the country’s education system.

The development comes, as the university has added Medicine to its curriculum to enable more Nigerians benefit from the rich medical education and be able to add to the health care delivery of the country.

ATPEN petitions UN over repression

In a related development, the Association of Turkish People in Nigeria, ATPEN, has decried the continued repression meted out on Turkish people by the administration of Erdogan, saying it was repulsive and against acceptable humanitarian standards.

President of the association, who is based in Abuja, Mr. Cemal Yigit, told Vanguard that they had been forced by recent ugly developments in Turkey to petition the United Nations to wade into the matter in order to save the lives of prominent businessmen, journalists, judges and scholars, who are being hauled in droves into prisons by the administration of Erdogan.