African Leaders Condemn Discrimination at Ukraine Border

Nigeria’s government has condemned reports that its citizens, and those of other African countries, have been stopped from leaving war-torn Ukraine. South African foreign office official Clayson Monyela also said students had been “badly treated” at the border. There have also been numerous reports of Ukrainian security officials preventing Africans from catching buses and trains going to the border. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said there were about 4,000 Nigerians in Ukraine, mostly students. He said one group had repeatedly been refused entry to Poland so they travelled back into Ukraine to head for Hungary instead. University student Ruqqaya, from Nigeria, was studying medicine in Kharkiv in the east of the country when the city was attacked. She walked for 11 hours overnight before she arrived at the Medyka crossing with Poland. Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Geofrey Onyeama said he had spoken with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and had been assured that Ukrainian border guards had been given an order to allow all foreigners leaving Ukraine to pass without restrictions.

SOURCE: BBC