The Federal Government has warned Nigerians against moving to Northern Cyprus in their quest for greener pastures.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Dr. Abike Dabiri Erewa, gave the warning on Thursday while featuring at the 48th session of the State House Ministerial Media Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
She rued the frequency in the killing of Nigerians in foreign lands, particularly in Northern Cyprus, with no practical intervention from officials of that country because of the political situation in the European enclave.
Dabiri-Erewa said there was little that could be done diplomatically to resolve the situation of Nigerians in Northern Cyprus because it was not recognized by the international community as a country except by Turkey.
The NiDCOM chairman, who noted the cases of human right abuses in the country, said Northern Cyprus did not have robust mechanisms that would enable the Federal Government to pursue justice for several Nigerian students killed in the de facto state.
Dabiri-Erewa, who noted that several Nigerians are being maltreated and killed in the region, said “Think twice before going to Northern Cyprus. We can’t do much for Nigerians there. Our students are being killed daily.”
She said over 10,000 Nigerians in distress in Libya, Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kenya, South Africa, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Ukraine and other nations of the world had been evacuated on the instructions of President Muhammadu Buhari.
She added that every Nigerian stranded in the Ukraine at the start of the conflict returned home safely.
The NiDCOM chairman, however, expressed sadness that some of them were still going back.
She stressed the need for inter-agency collaboration to stop the trend.
Dabiri-Erewa also warned those travelling to countries like UAE to commit crimes to stop forthwith.
The NiDCOM chairman, who dismissed the fears of Nigerians in the Diaspora that their business interests in the country might be jeopardised by the prevailing security situation in the country, said the development was a temporary scenario.
She said the Nigerian security agencies had been addressing the situation with the recent bombardment of terrorists’ hideouts in the government’s resolve to end the menace in parts of the country.
She also assured the Diaspora community of great return on investment in the new enabling environment being created by the authorities.
