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The Federal Government has dismissed the report that Russia is forcing international students to join in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine alongside its troops in exchange for visa renewal.
The report by Bloomberg, an international media platform based in America stated that Russia has decided not to extend the visas of African students and young workers unless they agree to join its military to fight against Ukraine.
The report attributed this claim to European officials familiar with the matter.
According to the report, Russia sought to enlist international students in the war to add extra manpower for its offensive in the Kharkiv region.
In response to the report, the Federal Government has dismissed the report as “false and misleading.”
In a statement on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Eche Abu-Obe, said there have been no reported cases of any Nigerian or other African students being enlisted to join the war.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been drawn to news articles published by several Nigerian media outlets on Monday, June 10, 2024, informing the public that the Russian Government is engaging Nigerian and other African students to participate in the ongoing war with Ukraine with the promise of visa renewals.
“The Ministry wishes to inform that the Nigerian Embassy in Moscow is in close communication with the executives of the Nigerian Students Association in Moscow, Russia and there has not been any reported case of conscription of Nigerian students nor indeed of other African students to fight in the aforementioned war.
“The newspaper reports are, therefore, false and misleading and should therefore be disregarded.”
The Ministry also appealed to media outlets to exercise due diligence in the line of duty by verifying the information at their disposal before releasing it to the public.