Rep condemns invasion of country’s Moscow embassy by Nigerian students

Hon. Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje, the Chairperson, House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs, on Tuesday in Abuja condemned the invasion of Nigeria’s embassy in Moscow by a group of Nigerian students.
The students were reported to have damaged some of the embassy’s furniture in protest over the failure of the Federal Ministry of Education to pay their grants.
Elendu-Ukeje told the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview that the protesting students went too far in violating the embassy.
She said: “Nigeria takes any attack on its embassy as a very serious issue, whether by its citizens or not.
“Invasion of any embassy is an anathema.
“Irrespective of what it is, and that is my stand on this issue, vandalism of Nigeria’s property anywhere in the world does not answer the question.”
The legislator, however, acknowledged that she received a petition two months back from a group of students in Moscow.
“The petition concerned the failure of the Federal Ministry of Education to pay their grants,” she said.
Elendu-Ukeje said she understood their plight, especially as the petitioners complained of backlog of unpaid school fees.
She said: “I am aware that they have actually written a petition.
“I had cause to engage in a discussion with the young man who brought the petition.
“I made him realise that the embassy is not part of the deal between them and the Ministry of Education.
“Even though the Nigerian embassy is Nigeria’s representative in Moscow, the Ministry of Education is the one paying their grant.
“However, I promised to engage the Ministry of Education to ensure that their grant was paid to them as at when due.”
On the reasons behind the student’s remittances being delayed, the lawmaker told NAN the last report she received from the House Committee on Education was that “the money will soon get to them”.
She said she was told the money was routed through one of Nigeria’s missions abroad and that the matter had been settled.
Elendu-Ukeje said the attack on the Nigerian embassy on Malaya Nikitskaya Street in Moscow came on the heels of the vandalism of the Nigerian embassy in Dakar, Senegal.
She added: “When a Nigerian damages the symbol of his country’s sovereignty in another country, then he makes it very difficult for it to be protected in that country by the citizens of that country.
“Because, he has shown that it is indeed possible to damage his own country’s symbol of authority.”
The lawmaker, however, appealed to the Nigerian embassy in Moscow to provide consular assistance to the 16 students detained by the police in Moscow in connection with the incident.
According to reports, the students were removed from the embassy building at the request of its Nigerian staff.
The 16 students arrested now face administrative charges, the Russian interior ministry was reported as saying.
Attempts to reach the Federal Ministry of Education for comments were unsuccessful, while the Foreign Affairs ministry’s spokesperson, Ogbole Ode, told NAN he was not aware of the arrests.