Nigerian final year student dies 2-week after evacuation from Ukraine

A Nigerian student Huzaifa Habibu who fled the war in Ukraine has died two weeks after returning home.

Habibu’s father Habibu Halilu Modaci says that his son died after complaining of discomfort and loss of appetite. The 22-year-old medical student was due to graduate in 2023.

“Had it been he died in Ukraine so many things would be said about him, that he was either killed by the Russian bombardment or had an accident or even accidentally shot and killed by the Ukrainian Army.” Modaci said.

Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister Geoffrey Onyeama said there were about 5,600 Nigerian students in Ukraine and an estimated 8,000 Nigerian citizens in the country before the war.

The Nigerian government said it has evacuated more than 1000 students from Ukraine.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 3,489,644 Ukrainians had fled the country since Russia invaded on February 24 — a figure up to 100,600 on Sunday’s update.

“Over the last four weeks, the world has watched in disbelief. Countless lives have been lost while millions of others have been completely upended,” UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said.

“As if to counter the despair, we have also witnessed overwhelming acts of welcome and compassion as neighbouring countries, particularly local responders, have opened their hearts and homes to Ukrainians.

“Millions around the world were rightly moved by the extreme plight of the Ukrainian people,” he said, citing their “pain and sorrow… loss and anguish”, and “relief at finding safety and trepidation of an uncertain future.”