Ukraine: We have challenges procuring buses for stranded students – Onyeama

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has said the Federal Government has encountered challenges in procuring buses to evacuate Nigerian students trapped in the Ukrainian border town of Sumy.

Over 150 students have been trapped in the town which has been heavily bombed by Russian forces.

Some Nigerian students lamented that they had been forced to cook with snow and had been unable to shower in three days because of the war.

In a series of tweets on Sunday evening, however, Onyeama said he had been able to reach Ukrainian authorities and he had been assured that a humanitarian corridor would be created on Monday to ensure that the students could be safely evacuated.

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The minister tweeted, “Deep gratitude to Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Minister of Ukraine, for approval given, as promised, to establish a humanitarian corridor and authorise evacuation of Nigerian students from Sumy starting tomorrow (Monday).

Sumy, which is a city in Ukraine that shares a border with Russia, has become a war zone in recent days, losing electricity and forcing most residents to stay in bunkers.

While the government has been able to bring back hundreds of students, many have remained trapped in Sumy. This is because Sumy, which is located in North-East Ukraine, is far from the Polish, Hungarian and Romanian borders.

Russia remains the closest place these Nigerian students can run to for shelter but the road linking Russia to the town is said to have been destroyed by bombs.

The students said in viral videos that they were being charged as high as N1m to be transported and despite their willingness to pay, no one was ready to convey them.