The Russian Embassy in Nigeria has refuted reports that Nigerian students in Russia are being pressured to enlist in the military to support Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this week, a Bloomberg report said that Russia has been compelling African students to join the fight against Ukraine as a condition for visa renewal.
The report suggested that Moscow is sending thousands of migrants and foreign students, including Nigerians, to fight alongside its troops in the war against Ukraine.
“Some Africans in Russia on work visas have been detained and forced to decide between deportation or fighting,” the Bloomberg report quoted a European official as saying.
Citing anonymous sources, the publication said the Kremlin had adopted “tactics first deployed by the Wagner mercenary group,” by which Russian officials “threatened” to deny visas to African students and young workers who refuse to join the military.
It reported that some of people had been able to bribe officials to stay in Russia and still avoid military service.
Russia denies “fake news”
On Tuesday, the Nigerian government denied the media reports. The foreign ministry said, “there has not been any reported case of conscription of Nigerian students nor indeed of other African students to fight” for Russia in the Ukraine conflict. “The newspaper reports are therefore false and misleading and should therefore be disregarded,” the ministry declared.
On Wednesday, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Nigeria expressed gratitude to the Nigerian foreign ministry for “debunking the fake news aimed at undermining the friendship and cooperation between Russia and Nigeria.”
“The Embassy of the Russian Federation is compelled to emphasize that such news is not only false but also damages Russian-Nigerian educational cooperation by misleading numerous scholarship and grant applicants as well as their partners, who could be extremely concerned by such fakes,” it said.
“The Embassy states that Nigerian students face no difficulties in extending their visas while continuing their studies in Russia. Numerous associations of Nigerian students in Russia have not reported any issues in obtaining the necessary documentation to continue their stay in the country.
“The Embassy welcomes the official press release of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this matter and expresses gratitude to the Ministry and the Association of Nigerian Students in Moscow for their efforts in debunking the fake news aimed at undermining the friendship and cooperation between Russia and Nigeria.”
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