The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has warned Nigerian parents against sending their children to universities in Northern Cyprus over the incessant and mysterious killing of Nigerians.
Ms. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO of the commission, who gave the warning on Monday, said that it was too risky to send children to the schools there as hundreds of Nigerian students had been killed there mysteriously without any conclusive investigations carried out.
Dabiri-Erewa said this when she received in her office, a delegation led by Justice Amina Bello, mother of a Nigerian student, Ibrahim Khaleel, who was allegedly killed in inexplicable circumstances in that country.She stressed that the death of Khaleel, a third-year engineering student had brought to a tipping point the incessant killing of Nigerian students in the country under baffling circumstances.
The NIDCOM boss, who read out 15 names of Nigerians from a list of more than 100 who were killed in the country, said it was difficult to employ international diplomacy in an investigation as the country was only recognised by Turkey.
“The death of Ibrahim Khaleel should be the tipping point to a stop in the killing of our children anywhere in the World, particularly Northern Cyprus.
“It is not only Ibrahim. Kennedy Dede 28, Augustine Ngok, Gabriel Sorewei, Osabanjo Owoyale, Augustine Wallace, Stanley Eteno, Hassan Babatunde, Temitayo Adigun, and Kubat Abraham are just a few of the ones that we even know.
“The problem is that most Nigerian parents do not know that Northern Cyprus is not recognised by any country in the World.
“It is not an UN-recognised country. It is only recognised by Turkey.
“That is why we have not been able to do much. Who do you report to? Thousands of Nigerian students are schooling there, and I tell you that hundreds have been killed. Who do you take these cases to?
“And they are killed in similar circumstances. The school just tells you ‘well, they committed suicide’ and nothing happens.
“We are going to list all these names of Nigerians that have been killed, and we demand justice. There has been no prosecution and no compensation.
“No Nigerian parent should send their children to any university in Northern Cyprus – there is a collaboration which we do not understand that makes them kill blacks, particularly our Nigerian students,” she said.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK