Polish ambassadors requested the release of seven people who were detained in Nigeria on Friday amid ongoing protests in the West African nation, citing their detention as the result of a misunderstanding, according to Warsaw.
Earlier this week, in the northern Nigerian state of Kano, six Polish students and a Warsaw University lecturer participating in a program to study Hausa were taken into custody.
Russian flags were flown during the rally, according to a spokesman for Nigeria’s secret agency, however Polish officials doubt this.
After meeting with Nigeria’s charge d’affaires in Warsaw, deputy foreign minister Jakub Wisniewski pleaded with Nigeria to permit the students and lecturer to return home to their families.
He then briefed reporters on the Polish efforts being made in the matter.
“I expressed throughout the discussion my belief that the students’ actions may have been caused by their lack of knowledge about regional laws, customs, and culture”.
Wisniewski stated, “I made a plea for the chance of their going back to Poland, to their homes, where their relatives are waiting for them.
It is unlikely, according to Wisniewski, that the students were carrying Russian flags.
Due to painful memories of being ruled by Russia in the past, pro-Russian attitude is uncommon in this Central European country.
Today’s Polish society firmly supports Ukraine and is highly critical of Russian actions in that country.
Laptops 1000The seven Poles were transported to Abuja, the nation’s capital, and are secure, according to Wisniewski. They were to meet with Poland’s consul on Friday afternoon.
In Nigeria, a country of 220 million people, widespread protests about rising inflation and hunger have resulted in the implementation of a curfew and a ban on demonstrations, according to Wisniewski.
Russian flags have been waved by a few protestors in Nigeria’s northern states, following a pattern previously observed in coup-hit African nations where pro-Russian sentiment is rising as military regimes cut links with the West.
