Parents who sent their children to schools in Ukraine should be responsible for the safety and evacuation of their children and not President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, says foreign affairs minister Geoffrey Onyeama.

He argued that Nigerians who travelled as private citizens to Ukraine should ordinarily be responsible for their evacuation, not the federal government. 

“But you see, were it not for the conflict itself that the military have gone in, and these people (Nigerian citizens) are now going out, these are private citizens that have gone to these countries in their private capacity,” said Mr Onyeama Monday night on Channels TV. 

He further urged that Nigerians living and working in the embattled European countries and those studying there to cater for themselves.

“So ordinarily, it is not (the) government that would necessarily be evacuating. People would want to leave themselves and should leave themselves or parents who send their kids there you bring your kids out if things are looking dangerous and risky,” Mr Onyeama added. “So it is always a difficult situation whether (the) government is the one that should be airlifting, in any kind of crisis, people out of the country.”

Meanwhile, Mr Buhari’s regime has declared that Nigeria is ready to sanction Russia for invading Ukraine once the United Nations “adopts and imposes sanctions” on the country. 

“On imposing (the) sanction, this is going to be a collective action. The United Nations has to act,” disclosed Mr during an interview with Channels TV.

He added, “We are going to act and engage within the framework of the United Nations. So if the United Nations adopts and imposes sanctions against Russia, we will comply with UN’s resolution.” 

Mr Onyeama condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to wage war against Ukraine.

“We made that very clear; we condemned it. First of all, military force is not the solution. We have spoken up about the territorial integrity that we recognise the integrity of Ukraine,” insisted the minister. “Nigeria’s position on the resolution is very clear, that we do not condone this military intervention in another country.”

Thousands of Nigerians have been caught in the Russia-Ukraine war, with the federal government frantic to get them out of Ukraine.

It directed Nigerians fleeing Ukraine to head to Hungarian or Romanian borders for easy access.

“For now, movement to the Hungarian Zahony border and Romanian Suceava, Tulcea, Satu Mare County, and Maramures borders is advised, as they approved visa-free access to all Nigerians coming from Ukraine and arrangement for accommodation and feeding before evacuation is arranged,” said permanent secretary to the ministry of foreign affairs Gabriel Aduda in a statement.

Nigerian embassies in Romania, Hungary, and Poland have received over 256 stranded Nigerians from Ukraine while awaiting the arrival of 200 more in the coming days, said Mr Aduda.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine last Thursday, with neighbouring Belarus effectively used as a staging post for the Russian military.