The Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, (NIDCOM) Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa has assured that the two Nigerians in Bosnia Camps were hale and hearty and are expected to return to Croatia anytime from today Friday Dec. 13, 2019 preparatory to come back to Nigeria.
This was sequel to series of diplomatic interventions from the Nigerian
Mission in Hungary and Mr. Geoffrey Onyema, Hon. Minister of Foreign
Affairs, who directed for full investigations to be carried out.
It will be recalled that two students of the Federal University of
Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Abia Alexandro Uchenna and Eboh Kenneth
Chinedu, who attended an international table tennis competition in
Croatia, ended up in a Bosnian refugee camp.
She said arrangements had been concluded to send the two Nigerians back to Croatia anytime from today, Friday December 13, 2019, adding that the Nigerian Mission in Hungary has taken steps to ensure that the matter is
resolved and the welfare of the two Nigerians protected.
She said that five of them went for the table tennis event without the
knowledge of the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation, two returned over
two weeks ago, three of them stayed back while one already applied for
asylum.
Although the Croatia Authorities through our Ambassador in Budapest
denied the allegation involving maltreatment by the Croatian Police, the
Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama has also demanded
full investigation into the matter.
She said the conditions attached to their release include usage of their
return tickets from Zagreb, Croatia back to Nigeria and must not seek
Asylum in Croatia, just as one of them did already.
Dabiri-Erewa appealed to Nigerians to always inform relevant authorities
whenever they go on such trips outside the country and be of good
behaviour.
According to a report, Abia Alexandro Uchenna, Eboh Kenneth Chinedu, and
three other students, arrived in Zagreb, capital of Croatia, on November
12, for the fifth world inter-university championships held in the
country.
They were allegedly arrested while taking a walk around the country’s
capital on November 18 as they couldn’t produce relevant documents to
the police.
The police officers were reported to have transferred the students to
the country’s Bosnia-Herzegovina border, where Croatian authorities had
gathered a group of illegal migrants attempting to cross into the
country.
