Ambode rescues stranded Nigerians in Russia 

By Esther Egbe

Relief has come for the stranded Nigerians in Russia as the Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has decided to fund their trip home, National Daily can report.

Steve Ayorinde, the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture announced the kind gesture of the governor though his twitter handle on Saturday afternoon.

Before now, Nze Ikay Chibueze Ok-Umeh, the Social and Welfare Officer of the Nigerian Community in Russia informed that the Nigerian embassy in Moscow had arranged to house the stranded Nigerians in hostels for two days.

The two-day accommodation expires on Sunday, the day of the World Cup final. Their ordeal has been trending on German TV station Deutsche Welle and Russian television station, Moscow 24.

Most of the stranded Nigerians were said to have travelled by Turkish Airlines and Air Maroc and apparently through their travel agents had one-way tickets while the return legs of the tickets were not paid for, leading to their being stranded when they wanted to leave Russia through Terminal A Sheremyetovo 1 Airport in Moscow on Thursday.

The Social and Welfare Officer of the Nigerian Community in Russia said that an “anti-human trafficking group Alternativa reported that the stranded Nigerians arrived Russia using a legal loophole posing as World Cup fans