Several Nigerian youths, including youths from other African countries of Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, and Algeria, have continued to insist on going to fight in Ukraine rather than staying back at home facing the hardship imposed by bad leaders.
Some of the youths from Nigeria had expressed preference to participate in the war rather than living with the hardship and difficulties in Nigeria.
Some of the youths had declared: “We know that it is war, it is not child’s play. “But being a soldier in Ukraine would be better than being here.”
One of the youths had stated: “I will probably be allowed to stay if the war ends, plus I will be a hero and fight an undeniable enemy.”
David Osagie Adeleke, 21 years, from Oyo State, southwest Nigeria, worked as an emergency rescue worker for the Red Cross. He has collected the necessary documentation, including a letter of recommendation, to move into Ukraine and enlist in the army. The embassy rejected him, but he is so desperate to leave Nigeria that he approached the embassy of Poland for a visa.
According to Adeleke, “I went straight to the police station to collect my documents.
“I am disappointed to hear that the embassy is now saying it won’t take us Africans.”
“I have got an interview with the Polish embassy in Nigeria.”
He noted that a clean criminal record was one of the requirements for enlisting; that’s why he went for a police report.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, had called for foreign fighters to “come and stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainians”.
The Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, had disclosed that about 20,000 volunteers from across the world had applied to enlist in the Ukrainian army.
Russia had also acknowledged it received 16,000 applications for mercenaries from the Middle East.
While many youths rushed to the Ukrainian embassy in Abuja for enlistment in the Ukrainian army, Nigeria’s foreign ministry protested and warned the Ukrainian authorities that the government will not tolerate the recruitment of Nigerians to fight in Ukraine.
According to the foreign ministry, “Nigeria discourages the use of mercenaries anywhere in the world and will not tolerate the recruitment.”
After the diplomatic intervention, many Nigerian youths are still insisting on going to Ukraine to fight, even at the cost of paying their flight fares. The Nigerian youths reiterated consideration of the risk of war lower than staying in Nigeria and going through hardship in the country.
Another Nigerian youth, Nkem Nduche, was at the Ukrainian embassy in Abuja for a visa.
He narrated that he lived in Russia when he was young and enrolled at Russia’s military academy. He was suspected of being a spy after he was sighted at the American embassy; and was imprisoned for a short time. He said he escaped from Russia seven years ago through Ukraine and wanted to fight against Russia.
Nkem Nduche was cited to have said, “I wanted to go on my own but as the Nigerian government said we can’t go… I will obey them.”