Over 100 Nigerians have applied as volunteers to defend Ukraine against the invasion of Russia, and are now awaiting their visas, which would enable them to travel for the fight.
This is according to the Second Secretary at the Ukrainian Embassy to Nigeria, Bohdan Soltys.
Soltys said the Nigerians have registered as volunteers already and had vowed to defend Ukraine against Russian belligerents.
Prior to Soltys’ statement, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, had through his verified Twitter handle, asked foreigners to join the war.
“Foreigners willing to defend Ukraine and world order as part of the International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine, I invite you to contact foreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine in your respective countries. Together we defeated Hitler, and we will defeat Putin, too,” a tweet from Kuleba read.
Confirming that Nigerians have indeed taken the announcement seriously, Soltys said “About 100 people wrote to us and said they would like to do this. We have transferred the information to the Ukrainian government and so far we have not received any feedback and positive response.”
BizWatch Nigeria understands that this development came, as President Muhammadu Buhari approved $8.5 million for the invasion of stranded Nigerians in Ukraine and its neighbouring countries.
Disclosing the fund approval following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting that was held on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Amb. Zubairu Dada said with the approved fund, no less than 5,000 stranded Nigerians would be brought back home.
However, faulting the Buhari-led government over its response to the evacuation call of Nigerians in Ukraine, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) said the President had again fumbled.
“Like other aspects, President Muhammadu Buhari’s Presidency fumbled again. This time, woefully, because it failed to effectively and timeously evacuate Nigerians from Ukraine many weeks before the eventual war started, following the needless invasion of Ukraine by Russia on the illegal orders of President Vladimir Putin,” a statement quoted HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, as saying.
