Six Polish students and their lecturer have been freed from detention in Nigeria, following diplomatic efforts to secure their release.
According to the Polish foreign ministry, a group of six students and a professor from Warsaw University who were detained in Nigeria during protests have been set free. The individuals are reportedly doing well and will be making their way back home this week.
According to Pawel Wronski, the spokesperson for the ministry, seven Polish nationals have been handed back their passports and personal belongings including laptops. They are currently residing at a university campus situated in Kano -a northern Nigerian city- while they wait for transportation arrangements to be made so that they can return home.
According to Nigeria’s secret service, the seven individuals were participating in a program aimed at studying the Hausa language. However, while attending a political demonstration earlier this month in Kano state, they were apprehended for supposedly carrying Russian flags.
Polish authorities, who have strained ties with Russia, dismissed the possibility of their involvement and claimed that it was simply a misinterpretation. The group of seven individuals were detained in Kano at a hotel while Warsaw made efforts to secure their liberation.
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Wronski urged caution when traveling to distant locations, citing that “our students were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
According to Wronski, the ministry provides cautionary messages and guidance for travelers on its website. Among them is a message that warns of the intricacies associated with political affairs in Kano, Nigeria.
In the Central European country, there is limited support for pro-Russian views due to past agonies while under Russian governance. Presently, Polish society strongly disapproves of Russia’s hostile actions towards Ukraine and firmly stands by Ukraine.
Thousands, predominantly youthful individuals, protested in Nigeria against the worst cost-of-living crisis witnessed in a generation and alleged poor governance that has suppressed growth despite being one of the top oil-producing nations.
Russian flags were observed in a number of northern states, which was formerly only prevalent in African countries plagued by coups where pro-Russian feelings are on the rise as militaries abandon ties with the West.
