No fewer than 350 Nigerian students risk their lives everyday as they remain trapped in South-Eastern regions of Ukraine, where the clashes between the National Guard and separatists are continuing for fifth month in a row, despite the truce negotiated in Minsk, Belarus, on September 5, 2014.
According to the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quoted by SaharaReporters on September 11, 2014, Thursday, the situation with safety of Nigerian nationals, who undergo courses in higher education institutions situated in the war zones, remains complicated in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, in its return, urges all the students to prepare such information as 1) name; 2) passport number; 3) institution name; 4) course name and the year of study and alternative universities within Ukraine. These details have to be forwarded either to Nigerian Embassy in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, or to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East and Central European affairs division, Abuja.
These data would ensure the possibility of transferring students to universities at safe and peaceful areas in western and central regions of Ukraine. The process will be supervised by the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science.
In 2013/14 academic year, the total number of Nigerians studying at various Ukrainian institutions in the war zone was around 2,000. Currently, about 1,650 had either returned home or had relocated to secure regions of the European country during the summer break.
The academic activities resumed in Ukraine on September 1, 2014. However, they are far from being safe due to fighting in the area.
According to official figures confirmed by the UN, over 2,600 people have been killed in Ukraine crisis since April 2014.
The conflict has been transformed from local to international when Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot above rebel-controlled area of Ukraine on July 17, 2014.
All 298 passengers of various nationalities, mainly Dutch citizens, died in the catastrophe.
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