About 600 Nigerian students stranded in war-ravaged Iran have called for urgent intervention from the federal government to facilitate their evacuation from the country as the aerial bombardment by the US and Israeli forces intensified.
A student, who does not want his name on print, told LEADERSHIP in Abuja on Thursday that, he is representing the students of Ahlul Bayt University in the Iranian capital Tehran and other universities across the country, adding that they have been sent out of their hostels since the war began.
He said, "I am writing on behalf of the students of Ahlul Bayt University Tehran Iran and other universities, please we are calling on the government to help evacuate us from Iran. We are about 600 students from different universities across Iran, now we have been sent out from our hostels since the war began. Some of us are at the Iran and Armenian border but yet to get any help from the government as the situation is going to be worse by next week."
The source noted that the students are apprehensive that all the Iranian borders are going to be closed soon, stressing that they have reached out to the chairman of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) for help but no response yet.
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The source noted that they were initially hopeful about a planned evacuation by the federal government through the office of NIDCOM led by Dr. Abike Dabiri-Erewa as the chairman. He however, said that officers from the Nigerian embassy informed them that there was no evacuation for now but anyone whose parents buy a ticket they will facilitate their visa to cross to Armenia and get to the airport.
He pleaded further for urgent government intervention and urged the government not to abandon them in this moment of crisis as nationals of other countries have been evacuated, adding that Qom city, which has the highest number of Nigerians, was attacked and it is not clear if any of them was affected.
"We are the only ones remaining around the border and neighboring communities as we cannot go back to our school again due to the crisis," he said.
Reacting to this urgent call, Gabriel Odu of the Press and Protocol unit of NIDCOM, said the government has plans to evacuate Nigerians from not just Iran both from other countries of the troubled Middle East when it becomes more feasible to do so.
He also advised the students to make use of the phone lines and other contact details provided by the federal government to connect with Nigerian missions.
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