Ekanem Assam, the Nigerian Ambassador to Russia, has reacted to the recent news of Nigerian students causing trouble at the country's Embassy in Moscow.
Mr. Assam has threatened to recommend the repatriation of a number of culprits in a telephone interview.
The embassy was invaded by 21 ex-Niger Delta militants, who were sent as delegates to study in Russia under the Federal Government's amnesty programme.
The students are accused of destroying property within the Embassy, such as furniture, cars, computers, televisions, communications system and a 17th century artefact donated to the embassy by the Federal Ministry of Culture.
The ambassador, who at the time of the accident was in Nigeria, disclosed that the deputy defence attaché was beaten up by the protesting students.
The ex-militants were protesting unpaid allowances by the Federal Government, demanding warm clothing and transport allowances. Their other demands included an increase in their housing allowance from $200 (N32, 400) to $1,600 (N259, 000) a month and immediate payment of their monthly stipend, he said.
"Each person is claiming about $7,800 (N1.26 million) and they wanted it paid before they leave the embassy," Mr. Assam said.
The ambassador said all efforts to persuade the students to be patient failed as they vented their anger on the staff and property at the embassy. He said that the embassy invited the Russian police who detained some of the suspects and subsequently released them.
"Whether they are still welcome to Russia is not a matter for me to decide. That is a matter for the Russian government.
"But for the Nigerian government, I told these boys that if they resort to violence at anytime during the tenancy of their training, I will recommend that they be repatriated back to Nigeria because it is a total disgrace to Nigeria and the Nigerian community.
"I have communicated to the Federal Government and the desk officer in charge of their programme is coming here on Monday."
Mr. Assam acknowledged that Nigerian students in Moscow, under various scholarship programmes, usually had difficulty in accessing their grants. He, however, said that it was not a justification to invade the premises of a foreign embassy.
"Bayelsa students have problems, and even those Federal Government scholarship students have problems with their monies coming. But on this particular one, we do not have any business with them, their monies is paid directly to their individual account from the CBN. Mr. Kingsley Kuku told me that the money has been deposited to the CBN account since the 23rd of September for remittance to these chaps.
If everybody who was owed salary reacted this way, will there be a world?" Mr. Assam asked rhetorically.
No comments:
Post a Comment