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The diplomatic relations between Turkey and Nigeria is about to go sour after the former deported some Nigerian students while still detaining two others in Turkish Prisons.
Reports said about 50 Nigerian students were sent back home in the allege deportation after the foreign ministry denied the number saying it was less than that.
One of the deported student who identified his name as Rukkaya Usman, had said the Turkish government did not give a reason for the action.
Another one called Usman, a final year student of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Melikseh, told TheCable that she arrived in Turkey at 8am on September 26, but that she was detained at the airport for about 10 hours after which she was placed on a plane and flown back to Nigeria.
Usman was quoted as saying: “As I got to the airport, at the immigration; they (immigration officers) collected my passport and resident permit. They started to ask me questions like: ‘what are you studying?’ ‘What’s your father’s name?’ They took my passport. This was on September 26. I asked what was happening. But they said they didn’t know, that it was a new law, that they were sending me back to my country”.
Reports said the students were said to have been held and their passports seized by the police upon arrival at the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul.
The detention of the Nigerians, who were mainly students of Fathi University, one of the private universities in Turkey, was believed to be own by Fethullah Gulen, alleged to be in connection with the failed coup in the country in July, 2016.
The Fathi University is among the 2,099 schools, dormitories and universities shut down in the wake of the failed coup in Turkey on account of their alleged links to the accused mastermind of the putsch, Fethullah Gulen.
The Turkish ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil, had in the aftermath of the coup, requested the Federal Government to close down 17 Turkish schools in Nigeria for alleged links to Gulen, but the latter ignored his request.
Meanwhile two Nigerians Hassan Danjuma Adamu and Muhammad Alhaji Abdullahi, who are still in detention as a result of the alleged link to Fethullah Terror Organization (FETO) , the Nigerian Embassy Ankara -Turkey has said that they are monitoring the development .
The Charge D’Affaires of the Nigerian Mission in Turkey, Ibrahim Isah had narrated their efforts since they got the information about the detention of the two Nigerians currently in Turkish prison.
The release was made by the Nigeria Ministry of Foreign Affairs which reads thus: “ With reference to my previous reports on the two Nigerian students who were arrested for alleged membership of FETO as well as several efforts made by the Mission to get consular access to them, I am glad to respectfully report that on 26‘ September 2016 the Mission finally received the approval to pay a consular visit to Hassan Danjuma Adamu and Muhammad Alhaji Abdullahi, the two detained Nigerian students.
“Upon receipt of the approval from the host Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Counsellor at the Embassy embarked on the trip on 27 th September 2016 to Silivri Prison in Istanbul where the two Nigerians are being held.
“According to Hassan, 28 September makes it exactly two months since they were arrested and brought to Silivri Prison.
Two weeks after the failed coup attempt. They however established that so far, they had not been maltreated. The two Nigerians had secured accommodation in a students’ hostel which they said had been facilitated by the International Students’ Association.
“Recounting what happened on the day of their arrest, they informed that they were the only ones left in the hostel when the police raided the place. According to Muhammad, they were preparing to vacate the hostel on that fateful day having heard that the so called International Students’ Association was being linked to FETO and that the hostel was under investigation.
Unfortunately for them, the hotel was raided before they could move out. They believed that the police were given prior information of the presence of foreign students in the hostel. After the raid, nothing implicating was found on them except three religious books that the police believe was incriminating. Both denied ownership of the books which seemed to put to bed any doubts in the minds of the police that they were members of FETO. Thus, they were immediately arrested and taken to the police station for interrogation, and subsequently transferred to Silivri Prison.
“The two Nigerians who have been on scholarship of Yobe State government have completed their studies and were awaiting their diplomas before their arrest. They explained that apart from the initial interrogation and one session with the prison psychologist, no other person has met with them to discuss their case. At the moment there is no information on the next course of action but Mission has sent a note today to the host Ministry of Foreign Affairs to determine that,” it said.
“ I will continue to monitor developments and report accordingly,” the release added.
It could be recalled that in a swift reaction to the allege deportation , the Federal Government had last weekend summoned the envoy over report that some Nigerian students were being detained by the police at the Istanbul Airport.
The government had insisted on the release of the detained students and directed the ambassador to ensure the safety and well-being of the students whose school, Fathi University, was among the 2,099 schools shut down by the Turkish government for links with Fethullah Gulen, the alleged mastermind of the failed July 15, 2016 coup in the country.
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