With about 20 Nigerians so far killed in Northern Cyprus, the Federal Government has warned Nigerian youths against traveling to the country to study.
Currently, human right abuses have continued to thrive resulting in untimely deaths of foreign nationals including Nigerian students in the country.
Briefing State House correspondents at the weekly Ministerial Media Chat organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday, the Director-General of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said Nigerians were being killed on daily basis in Northern Cyprus.
“No one is able to intervene due to the political situation there. The country which is only recognized by Turkey does not have robust mechanisms that would enable the Nigerian government to pursue justice for several Nigerian students killed in Northern Cyprus.
“Officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Northern Cyprus is a de facto state that comprises the Northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Recognized only by Turkey, Northern Cyprus is largely considered by the United Nations and the international community to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.
“Think twice before going to Northern Cyprus. We can’t do much for Nigerians there. Our students are being killed daily,” she said.
According to Dabiri-Erewa, more than 10,000 stranded Nigerians have so far been evacuated.
While lauding Nigerians in diaspora for their support to the development of the country in spite of the security challenges, she disclosed that they had so far committed $20 billion in 2021 and $4.8 billion as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
On the current insecurity in the country, Dabiri-Erewa, allayed their fears that it would not affect their business interests back at home, assuring that the federal government was doing all within its powers to address it.
“Home remittances is four times our FDI and contributes about 6.1% of our annual GDP. Our Diaspora are now an economic factor for development which we have coined a term Diaspora Direct Investment (DDI),’’ NIDCOM boss said, acknowledging their skills and resources toward the development of the country in the various sector such as health, education, technology, finance, transportation, housing and entertainment.
She added: “The Nigerian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has so far played a critical role and provided much needed leadership to ensure the rights of Nigerians are protected in the various countries where her citizens reside.
“In spite of the successes recorded so far there are still pockets of challenges being faced by Nigerian citizens across some Nations of the world and especially in crisis regions that requires the urgent attention of the Government.
“President Muhammadu Buahri is the most diaspora-friendly President Nigeria has had. Whenever he goes on foreign trips, he holds town hall meetings with Nigerians out there. He holds robust discussions with them and to us that is very encouraging.
“He has also ensured we return home, Nigerians that are stranded abroad. From Libya, the President brought back over 10, 000 Nigerians; honestly that is a feat. From South Africa, we thank him so much; he was able to bring back a lot of them during xenophobic attacks.
“Ukraine, here again, the President successfully brought back every Nigerian that was stranded in Ukraine and honestly speaking, we thank him for that leadership.
“The UAE, it is a trending problem. As I speak, we have 302 Nigerians waiting in the holding center being profiled.
“We warned that people should not go to that country or similar countries but our people are still going out, breaking the laws of other countries and calling us to help them. This really has to stop.”
On diaspora voting, Dabiri-Erewa, said the National Assembly had not given the needed cooperation on the issue.
“We engage with committees on diaspora affairs in the parliament particularly for diaspora voting and unfortunately we did not succeed. The National Assembly is still not interested in diaspora voting but we will not relent.
“We will continue to engage with them because I believe that those in diaspora should be able to vote as they are legally living in other countries and paying tax there.’’
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