TheCable

Hakan Çakil, Turkish ambassador to Nigeria, says Nigerian students in his country are under the protection of the government.

Çakil said this on the sideline of a dinner reception to mark the 93rd anniversary of the founding of Turkey in Abuja at the weekend.

He denied the reports that 50 Nigerian students were arrested and detained in connection with the botched coup.

“There were reports that about 50 Nigerians were arrested in Turkey. No Nigerian student is arrested or detained in Turkey,” he said.

“All the rights of the Nigerian students who are studying in Turkey are under the protection of the government.

“Unfortunately this was in the media that about 50 Nigerian students were detained or under arrest; these numbers do not reflect the real situation.

“It was a discussion of a non-existant issue.”

He said the ties between both countries remained strong, and added that both parties sought other areas in which they could strengthen bilateral ties.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the president’s senior special assistant on foreign affairs and the diaspora, also told reporters that the arrest of Nigerian students was exaggerated.

Dabiri-Erewa confirmed that the issue had been resolved diplomatically.

“The Turkish ambassador who met with our permanent secretary made it clear that 50 Nigerian students were not detained,” he said.

“Two Nigerian students were detained for 11 hours but they were released as soon as the ministry got involved.

“Four Nigerians that they claimed were involved in the coup were released as soon as Nigeria stepped in.

“So there is no problem between Nigeria and Turkey, we continue to maintain strong diplomatic relations and we will also continue to ensure that issues are resolved diplomatically and not through sensations.”

She also advised Nigerian students abroad to always abide by the laws of whatever country they were in.

She encouraged students to patronise institutions of learning in Nigeria.

“Perhaps you do not need to go abroad because what you are looking for is also here in Nigeria and maybe even better,” she said.

“So we encourage them that under this administration the president is doing everything to make Nigeria truly a great place.

“There are some private universities here that are even better than where they are going to.

“Sometimes it is not necessary to go through all the stress our students have to go through but we just continue to educate them and raise awareness about all these issues.”